


The Road Walked Together

by RikuKingdomHearts3



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst, Eventual Romance, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Zack Lives, Zack is in the realm of darkness, Zack is just a lot of positive energy, slight canon AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:34:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22107934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RikuKingdomHearts3/pseuds/RikuKingdomHearts3
Summary: While Aqua walked her lonely path in the Realm of Darkness, she encounters someone she never expected. A young boy who she had met once before... one who had cheerfully asked her out for a date. Zack was the last person she expected to find in this realm, but now the two of them walk together, trying to keep their light burning all while the darkness closes in on them.
Relationships: Aqua/Zack (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a new idea I had stored away I finally am deciding to post.  
> But Zack living (whether it is FF7 or KH) is something I think about often. So I have come up with this little idea here out of the blue. Hope you guy all enjoy!

The path before her was twisted in darkness and vines. Everywhere she looked Aqua saw more vines twisting to the skies. Aqua didn't stop though, slashing and striking at each vine that sprouted up in front of her. Though the phantoms of Terra and Ventus and vanished, she still persisted on her path. She was going to find them, no matter what.

" _I need to find them… I can't be alone like this. I'm going to find them…"_ Aqua thought to herself.

After what she had encountered with the phantoms of herself, she had never felt so shaken. She had come to the realization that the darkness had been seeping into her. She could feel it closing in, crawling through the cracks that had formed in her heart.

In order to move on, more and more vines and thorns had to be cleared, but once they were out of the way, it lead down into a large ravine. Once Aqua was down there, in the corner of her eye she saw them again. But just like before they faded into golden light. But that was all she needed to keep herself on track.

She ran as dark creatures appeared on all sides of her, blocking her path. She halted herself before summoning back her keyblade and charged at them. She didn't want to waste too much time, fearing the visions of Terra and Ventus would stop. She had to keep looking for them and she wanted to hold on to some hope at least.

Running forward once the creatures were cleared out, vines sprouted up from the ground again. After they were clear, she was ready to move forward again when she noticed something else. She thought it was another monster of darkness and prepared to fight, but the closer it got, she saw that it looked to be humanistic.

Aqua staggered backwards, still holding up her keyblade defensively. " _A person? Or just another phantom illusion?"_

Whatever or whomever it was started to come closer, but a vine sprouted up from the ground in front of them. With no time to react, the person fell forward, letting out a pained grunt and yell. The voice sure did sound real enough to Aqua, but with everything she had encountered so far there was still no way of knowing. The sound could sound as real as she wanted it to, but in the end it could all be another trick.

Carefully she approached the fallen person, and the closer she got, she noticed something recognizable about them. It wasn't Terra or Ventus, but it was in fact someone she knew. It raised a lot of questions in her mind though. So far she had only seen phantoms of Terra and Ventus, as well as darkened versions of herself. But who she was seeing now she had not expected.

Crouching down, she looked carefully to get a good look at the face of the person in question. And it was exactly who she had thought it to be. There was no mistaking that black spiky hair. "Z-Zack?"

Zack groaned, his eyes shut with his entire face grimacing in pain. There were cuts and gashes covering his face as well as the rest of his body from what Aqua could tell. She could see the tears in his clothing and dents in his armor from many battles that must have happened to him prior.

"No… No more voices or illusions. I don't want to hear them anymore…"

Zack mumbled his words while staying crumpled up on the ground. Before Aqua could even have a moment to question her new thoughts she saw the vines begin to wrap around Zack's leg. Even though she still couldn't fully trust herself to believe this was real, she was not about to stand around and find out the hard way. She slashed away at the vines until they disappeared back into the ground, having them release Zack before any real damage could have been done.

He breathed out slowly before his eyes opened up, revealing his vibrant blue eyes. He searched around himself before his eyes fell onto Aqua. Both of them now had the same look of confusion when their eyes locked. Zack sat himself up into a kneeling position while Aqua keeled down to meet his eye level. She unsummoned her keyblade and tried to process what was happening now.

It was clear they were having the exact same thoughts, but neither of them had the right words to speak. They only were able to stare at one another and kept on wondering the most burning question of them all… was the other real?

Without words still they both reached up a hand and slowly extend it towards one another. Aqua flinched upon feeling the solid and tangible hand push up against hers. Unlike the other phantoms she had encountered, she could actually touch and feel Zack here. Her hand didn't go through him and his image didn't fade.

"Aqua? Is… is that really you?" Zack asked before he reached out his other hand.

Aqua held out hers too and once again their hands touched. They laced their fingers together and held tightly. Now that she saw that Zack was clearly real and her eyes were not playing tricks, she started to feel the tears swell up in them. Releasing her hands from Zack, she reached forward and wrapped her arms around him, once again finding so much relief in the fact he was truly tangible.

"Zack! I can't believe… someone else… I'm not alone…" Aqua's words became broken upon speaking, but she didn't care. All that mattered to her was that she had found someone. It wasn't who she was expecting, but it was someone at least.

Zack then placed his arms around her. "I agree… I thought I was all alone here. I've been wandering for who knows how long now… I thought this was it for me. But you're here too. You know…"

Zack paused as the two of them pulled back from their sudden hug. A familiar smile crossed his face. The smile of a young boy Aqua had nearly forgotten about since her journey turned south. So much had happened since she had her first meeting with Zack, but there was no way she could ever forget that smile he had.

"This is a pretty weird place for a date."

Aqua blinked at him, almost appalled he would make such a comment. But then she remembered. She thought back to when they had met at the Coliseum in Olympus and the events that had transpired there for them.

' _Hmm... Hey, how about one date?'_

Even trapped in a darkened world, this kind and optimistic boy she had met still had the ability to be cheerful and flirtatious. It was something she had to give him credit for. She never would have expected to hear anything like this after everything she had been through. Slowly she started to laugh, and almost found it strange.

" _When was the last time I actually laughed? I can't remember now… but it feels good,"_ Aqua thought. She then recalled the other half of the conversation that had happened with Zack back then.

"How can you find a way to make a joke in a place like this?" Aqua asked softly once her laughter had died down.

"Hey, I gotta keep up my charisma and charm somehow," Zack replied.

Aqua laughed again. She was more than happy to have someone to talk to. Someone who really was there and would reply back to her. It was something she had missed in all of her time here. Though that still left her with one major question.

"Zack… how did you get here?"

Zack opened his mouth to answer when the dark creatures surrounded them. Thankfully it was only a few of the flying ones and shadowy ones that crawled on the ground. But Aqua jumped back to her feet and readied her keyblade. She saw Zack stand up next to her and hold out what she thought was his sword… but there was something that looked different about it. It only took a second to process before Aqua went into fighting off them. When she saw him fighting with it, it finally made sense.

Half of the sword was broken! He was fighting with only half of his sword, and was struggling to keep the creatures from damaging him. Aqua gripped her keyblade tighter and she performed a series of quick lock on attacks to clear out the remaining ones. Once they were gone she grabbed Zack's wrist and pulled him back the way she had come from.

"This way."

She let him back to where the ravine had started. Not only were there no dark creatures there at the time, but there was also far less vines and thorns to pop up on them. She let go of Zack she held up her keyblade over his head and cast a Curaga over him. Green healing light fell onto his skin and started to heal up all of the wounds that he had.

"Wow! Thanks Aqua! That feels great," Zack smiled with relief. "It's been a while since I was at my fullest. I only had a couple a potions when I ended up here and I lost those so long ago."

"But Zack, how did you get here?" Aqua asked, hoping this time there would be no more dark creatures to interrupt.

Zack's smile faltered slightly. "I… I don't really remember what happened. It was a few days after you had left and I was outside of the coliseum. I was watching Phil and Herc and then… everything's a bit of a blur." Zack rubbed his forehead, trying to put as much thought as he could into it. "I think I was fighting someone, but I can't remember too much…"

Aqua reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Its okay if you cannot remember. Don't stress yourself over that fact."

Zack nodded. "How about you though? Do you remember? Maybe there is some connection in that?"

Aqua shifted as she withdrew her hand. Images danced in her mind, replaying the events that had led her to come to the dark world. It was all on her choice to protect Terra. She wasn't even sure if what she had done had worked, but she could only hope. Though after seeing all of these phantoms, she was no longer too sure.

"H-Hey sorry!" Zack replied as he saw the expression on Aqua's face. "If it's too much to talk about you don't have to."

Aqua nodded before glancing back to the broken sword in Zack's hand. "Thank you. But if I can ask you one more thing, what happened to your sword?"

"Ah yeah, it's a bit silly to see me running around with half a sword. I guess it's not really meant to be fighting these creatures. They wore down my sword pretty fast and it snapped before I knew it. But I've been managing! It's something different but I am doing my best to handle it!"

Aqua found herself smiling, again a rarity for her now but a welcomed feeling. She wished she could hold as much positive energy as Zack did. Things would be so much easier if that were the case. But Zack hadn't gone through the things she has been through. She knew Zack had seen phantoms, most likely of people he knew, but other than that she was sure that he hadn't had to face phantoms of himself. At least she hoped the young boy hadn't experienced anything like that.

Though now she was faced with a dilemma. She knew for a fact that she couldn't leave Zack on his own. After both of them had been journeying by themselves, she knew there was no way they would separate. It would be cruel of her to let him go back to wandering alone. Plus Zack was the first and only real person she had encountered here, and she wasn't about to let that go. But… there was no way Zack would be able to keep up with her if he had a broken weapon. And it would only be a crutch to the both of them in the long run of it all.

There was only one option she knew of that could make things a bit easier. But it still came with a lot of thought and consideration. After all, Aqua still did not feel too confident with herself as a keyblade master anymore. That was part of it that played to her fear in even doing this.

Was she really good enough to be doing this? Was she still worthy enough to pass on such an important power to another? She worried deeply about this, but she knew that it was an important choice. It was a choice that would help make the situation easier. She wasn't going to stand there and leave Zack to be helpless. Thankfully she also trusted Zack and knew that he was a good guy.

She summoned her keyblade and breathed in deeply. "Zack, I am going to ask you to do something. You are going to need a weapon to fight these creatures, and it has to be something that can do proper damage and give you protection as well as defense."

"Sure, but where am I going to get one like how you have?"

She held out the handle towards Zack. "I am going to give you the ability to use the keyblade."

"Wait really? But what about you though? We both can't use the same weapon."

Aqua shook her head. "No it's not like that. What I mean is that I am going to bestow the power to use the keyblade to you. So you will be able to have your own. All it takes is passing on the power to someone of my choice and for that person to have a heart strong enough to wield one. And I know that your heart is strong enough to do so."

Zack smiled. "Aw well thanks Aqua, that means a lot. So that means I would have my own keyblade? Like how you, Terra, and Ven all had different ones from each other?"

"Yes, that's correct. Your keyblade will be your own based on your heart, but it will take some time to get used to using it. I will help of course. Now all you need to do is place your hand on the handle."

Zack reached out his hand slowly and placed his hand on the handle. Aqua closed her eyes as she thought about the power that the keyblade had and possessed. There was a glow of light that surrounded the handle and their hands. And then a moment later it faded and it was gone.

The raven haired boy pulled his hand back and examined it now, looking it over as if there had been some major change with it. "That's it? It's that simple?"

Aqua nodded. "Usually there is a special mantra said along with it, but I feel we don't really have the time for that. All you need to do now is to call upon the power you now have and summon your keyblade to you from your heart. Hold out your hand and think about the power you feel and call it to you. It may take some time to get use to it though or even summon it."

"Okay, I'll try," Zack nodded. He closed his eyes before holding out his hand.

While he concentrated, Aqua kept an eye on their surroundings, but there were still no dark creatures that had come close to them. Though, Aqua could tell they were still there, hiding and waiting. Aqua gripped her keyblade, ready for when that moment would come. What the main focus was though was on Zack and seeing if he could really summon a keyblade.

She believed in him though. They may have only met once before, but she still knew that his heart would be strong enough. He had met not only her, but also Terra and Ven and had become friends with all of them. If his strength to make friends easily wasn't proof enough, then it would have to be his strong determination to become a hero.

Suddenly a light flashed, which caught her attention, and she saw there was a keyblade in Zack's hand. It was a simple blade, with the blade having its side jagged as though small pieces were worn off from a hard struggle. The base part of the blade had tanned fabric wrapped around it like a bandage. Short steal rods stuck out from the top section of the handle guard and the overall color of it was a dark grey metal color, though the handle itself was a dark red. What hung from the keychain was a detailed, embedded design of a wolf.

Zack blinked, total shock and surprise covering every inch of his face. He held up the blade high above him to inspect it. "Wow… I didn't expect to do it on my first try! This is amazing!"

Laughter came from Aqua again when she saw Zack's enthusiasm. But it wasn't able to last long as the dark creatures decided to finally make their move. Several different kinds surrounded them on all sides and started to close in.

"Okay Zack, it's time for some hands-on training. The keyblade may be different to use than a regular sword, but you've seen it in use. Figure out what works for you and let's go!"

Aqua began attacking the creatures around her before taking a glance to Zack. Much to her surprise he was already moving quickly around the darkness dwelling monsters, performing a series of quick slashes and attacks as his enemies. Even with his new large keyblade, he was quickly getting into a rhythm of striking down an enemy, then quickly jumping over to the next.

It wasn't long before all of the monsters had been cleared out from the area again. Aqua put away her keyblade before turning to Zack, who was practicing some swings more casually now that he was free to do so.

"You picked up using the keyblade fairly well, but there is still a long way to go," Aqua instructed, wanting to make sure that Zack knew it wouldn't all be easy.

"Oh I know, but at least I have you for my teacher. I should be caught up in no time flat!" Zack said before grinning kindly.

"A-Ah… oh I don't think… I'm not really that… Though I am a master of the keyblade I don't consider myself much of a teacher," Aqua mumbled before dropping her gaze.

"You're a master of the keyblade?! But that sounds so cool! I'm sure that you will do a great job at it, and I'll be the best student I can be! You can trust me Aqua! And you don't have to worry, I'm pretty low-maintenance, I promise!"

The corners of her lips curled up. Another smile had come to her and she welcomed it again and it was soon followed by bubbly laughter. Zack's cheerfulness was something that could probably rival Ventus's. It made sense why they must have become friends and the same would go for him and Terra.

"Thanks Zack," Aqua said after she stopped laughing.

Zack smiled. "You're welcome! So what's the plan? Where are we going to head next?"

"I'm not sure…" Aqua trailed off. She was not about to tell Zack about the phantoms she had seen even though she had heard him mumbling about seeing his own. She didn't want to seem foolish for chasing after something that was clearly not real. "I was heading in the direction that you ran from… but why did you run from there?"

"There these massive monsters! Like they had be ten stories high! I knew I wouldn't be able to fight them so I ran as fast as I could."

"Ah, it's those dark creatures," Aqua commented, remembering that she had seen them before back when she first entered this place. "Just stick by me and we can handle it together. Along the way I am going to have to teach you some magic. I can't have you running into battle without at least knowing a healing spell."

The two of them began to walk down the path, side by side. Aqua started to give her explanation on magic and how to channel through the keyblade for the best result. Though it was usually expected to start off with more basic spells such as fire or blizzard, Aqua decided to jump right to cure. It was going to be the most useful in battle anyways over the others.

Though soon the discussion moved from magic to something else. "So my keyblade, why does it look this way compared to the others I've seen?"

"The keyblade takes its shape after its owner or something like that. It is to reflect them in some ways, I suppose. I haven't really given too much thought to it," Aqua replied.

Zack summoned his keyblade again and examined it as they walked. "So it's like representing that I've been through a lot of tough situations and are more used to using a sword over a keyblade? Cause this looks more sword-like than keyblade."

"That sounds like it could make sense, but it is different for everyone. After all you saw what my keyblade looked like and then Terra and Ven's."

"Yeah, oh speaking of your keyblade. After what you just said, why do you have a different one now?"

Aqua stopped walking. Her entire body tensed up as the memories came crawling back. "It was… it belongs to my master."

It only took those simple words and a lonely expression on Aqua's face for Zack to understand. He put an arm around her and pulled her closer into a hug. "Hey, sorry again I asked. Looks like you've been through a lot more than I have. Just take it easy."

Aqua nodded as she started to take in deep breaths. "Thank you again… it really helps to have someone to talk to. I've been wandering for so long, I've forgotten how the company of others can really lighten the mood."

"Same, but we're here together now. And now we can work to find a way out, right?" Zack asked.

"I hope so… I need to get back to the realm of light. I have to find Terra and Ven."

It looked for a moment that Zack was going to ask, but he closed his mouth shortly after. He continued to hold Aqua as he nodded. "We'll find a way. I'll help you find Terra and Ven, they are my friends too after all. I bet with the two of us working together we can do it!"

"Are you always this optimistic?" Aqua asked.

"I try my best to be."

Aqua sighed. "I really wish I could have that optimism. It would be nice… maybe it would help keep the darkness away from my heart."

"Don't say things like that," Zack said, turning to face Aqua directly. "I know you are strong Aqua. I could tell that about you from when I first met you. You are a hero, and heroes have strong hearts and can't be defeated easily."

Aqua's eyes swelled up slightly. She didn't know how to explain it, but Zack's words were truly helpful. Sure they were words she had heart all before about the heart being strong, but with Zack she found it to be different. There was a kindness and wonder to his eyes when he spoke. He meant every word he said dearly and it really showed once he said it. She went to wipe away the sudden tears before she looked to Zack again. "I keep having to thank you so much. You always seem to know what to say."

"Like I said, I try my best. It's what I have to do and what I believe a good hero would do. You ready to move on?" Zack asked.

"Yeah, let's go," Aqua said, finding a new resolve filling inside of her. "We are going to find a way out of here and no monsters will stand in our way."

"That's the spirit!" Zack chimed happily.

The two moved forward until they reached a clearing, leaving all the twisted vines and thorns behind them. But once they were out, the large creature that Zack had mentioned stood in front of them. It loomed there, with the pieces of what could be called hair flowing around its head. It was as if it had been waiting for them, and now that they were here it was ready to strike.

Aqua took a few steps forward and summoned her keyblade again. The resolve and determination was still growing in her and she was ready to use that to her advantage. "You're not going to stand in our way, and you aren't going to keep us from finding our friends!"

Without another word she charged at the towering monster, as it was reaching its hand down to the ground to start one of its attacks. Aqua tried to strike the hand as much as she could, but it wasn't enough to disrupt it from pulling an orb of darkness from the ground.

Jumping back a little she focused herself and created a series of shotlock blasting attacks, hitting the dark creature all over its body. As it was raising its hand to cast the dark orb into the sky, Aqua jumped as high as she could, using his magic and momentum to get herself higher to go at it again.

As it released the dark orb into the sky Aqua landed back down to the ground and looked for Zack. He had been trying to attack the other hand as much as he could. He was jumping as high as he could and giving plenty of hard handed hits.

The creature dropped down to its knees and prepared once again for another attack. Both Aqua and Zack charged in and continued their onslaught of attacks. Within many regular attacks Aqua used several magic spells, not only as a way to do more damage but also as a way to demonstrate magic to Zack. Though they were in the heat of a battle she could only hope that he could catch a glimpse of it and start to learn. If he was as fast a learner as she thought he was, they on his own pace, he would be able to get it within time.

The next time the dark creature lowered itself down to the ground Aqua went to attack its head. She cast another series of magic attacks and backed off when it pulled up yet another dark orb. She could tell that the creature was wearing down, its attacks were becoming slower and less powerful. It didn't take they much longer before it was defeated.

When it collapsed and disappeared into the darkness, Aqua sighed with relief. "Zack, do you need anything healed up?" she asked as she walked over towards him.

Zack stretched before shaking his head. "I think I'm good for right now. But I really gotta learn how to use magic. That was amazing what you did there. I know we battled in the coliseum before, but seeing you fight these creatures is something else. You fight so gracefully, it's beautiful."

Aqua could feel her cheeks growing warm. Zack was flirting with her again and giving her his honesty flatly. She knew it was that, and it still made her feel nervous inside. There was a faint fluttering feeling in her stomach and she wasn't sure how to understand it.

" _It's only a compliment… I shouldn't be so nervous about it,"_ Aqua thought to herself before regaining her composure.

"Your fighting style is also something to talk about, even when you had your old sword you were able to move so quickly. Jumping around like an acrobat, it's quite impressive."

Zack smiled happily as he placed a hand behind his head. "Aw thanks Aqua."

"Now for conveniences, you can dismiss your keyblade," Aqua said before demonstrating. "To bring it back takes the same concentration to call it forth like before."

"Okay, I got it," Zack said before his keyblade vanished before him.

After that they started to walk again, making their way through the darkened cavern-like areas. When they turned around a corner Aqua saw them again… the phantoms of Terra and Ven. She let out a barely audible gasp, but did not slow her walking. Thankfully it seemed that Zack had not noticed.

" _Am I the only one who can see them? Or maybe Zack is trying to be like me and not draw attention to it. Perhaps I should ask…"_

"Oh, Aqua, one more question for now. Speaking of these creatures… what even are they?" Zack asked, thankfully distracting her from the thoughts of the phantoms.

"I do not know what they are called, all I know is that they are dwellers of darkness," Aqua replied.

"That's a bit to say, maybe we should think of something easier to call them?" Zack suggested.

"Maybe so, but what would we even call them?" Aqua asked.

"Don't know, maybe… maybe just go simple and call them Shadows? Most of the ones I have seen have blended in with the shadows regardless of their height."

"I suppose that could work," Aqua nodded. "Something simple it is."

As they exited out of the next section, another towering Shadow stood several feet before them. It plunged its hand into the ground, causes a pool of darkness to form. From it many smaller ones with little antennas emerged and started to crawl towards Zack and Aqua.

"If you can Zack, this would be a good time to try and practice magic, if you cannot get a healing spell to work, try another," Aqua instructed before running out to fight them.

Aqua had started to fight them, taking them out after several consistent blows. She turned to Zack to see how he was doing, but saw that he did not have his keyblade out. He jumped back out of each attack trying to steer clear of them.

Aqua charged to Zack and cast a reflective barrier spell over him. She then took out the remaining creatures within seconds. When she was done she turned to Zack, looking for any injuries but he looked just fine.

"Aqua, what happened? I couldn't get the keyblade to summon…" Zack pouted slightly as he tried to figure out what the reason could be.

"It's okay, you just acquired the power of the keyblade. It will take you a bit until you can get use to it."

"Ahh… I think I get it. But darn, I was so excited to get to using it again and try some magic. I guess I just gotta keep trying though," Zack said, still retaining his cheery optimism.

"That's good to hear. Keep at it and you will get it. I know you will. Ready to move on then?"

"Yeah, let's keep going forward, and don't worry, next time I will be ready," Zack replied smirking with confidence. He began to look around, a little curious look crossing his face. "Though which way do we go now?"

Aqua searched around the area, and then in the corner of her eye she spotted something… two somethings. Another set of phantom images of Terra and Ventus stood in the far area opposite them. Aqua breathed in while she continued to stare. They were just standing there faded but still glowing.

" _How many more times will I have to have their phantoms haunt me… when will I be able to actually find them…"_

Suddenly she felt something grabbed her shoulder. She jumped back and was about to summon her keyblade when she saw it was only Zack. He looked at her, worry etched into his face. "Aqua? You okay there?"

"Yes," Aqua answered softly. "I'm fine. I was… only thinking which was to go. I think we should head onward that way," She pointed in the direction where the phantoms still stood.

"Okay, let's head that way then. But seriously, are you sure you are okay? You look a bit pale."

Aqua shook her head. Clearly she was the only one able to see those phantoms. Though she did recall when she first came across Zack that he mentioned seeing illusions as well. At this point seemed that his illusions were different than hers.

It was something only in mind that was wanting to mess around with her. As much as she didn't want to burden Zack with her own burdens and distress, there was something about his concerned look that made her feel more at ease.

She breathed in slowly before looking to him. "I thought I saw faint images of something… or someone." She thought about telling the entire truth, but she didn't want Zack to worry too much for her. It didn't matter the details, only the basic subject matter anyways.

"You did?" Zack said. "Like an illusion of some kind?"

Aqua turned away, almost feeling ashamed that something like that had happened to her. "Yeah… like that."

"Aqua," Zack said reaching for her hand. He held it gently in hers and she finally looked back at him. "You don't have to feel bad about seeing illusions of people. I saw illusions too before I ran into you. They may not be real, but maybe it could be a sign of some kind. But what we can't forget is that we are real, and we are here for each other."

Aqua stared at Zack before her eyes drifted to his hand that held hers. She could feel the warmth from it… a sure sign that he was real. There was no illusion that could ever give that warm feelings. Once again she was glad she had found Zack, though she knew it wasn't fortunate that he was trapped with her in the darkened realm. It was unfortunate for both of them, but Zack had a point. They were here for each other. Without the other they would have probably been lost for longer.

Breathing in again she started to nod in agreement. She adjusted her hand so she also held onto his. She then gave it a gentle squeeze and smiled. "Yes, your right Zack. Thank you. Let's continue moving now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got to be very long due to the fact I couldn't find a good place to cut it earlier. Hope you guys like the longer chapter though!  
> If you have any thoughts let me know!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! I wrote a nice new long chapter here! I don't usually get longer chapters like this, but I am working on it!

Now that the large Shadow had been defeated, they were finally able to move onward. The area they walked through was a bit narrow, but it didn't last long before leading into another open area. There before them they saw even more giant Shadows standing all in the distance.

"Shesh!" Zack exclaimed. "Just how many of these guys are there?"

"Since this is a realm that dwells in darkness, I feel there are many. I have already encountered so many on my journey here," Aqua answered as she summoned her keyblade, looking to see if anywhere near enough to try and attack.

Though one was pretty close, it instead slammed its hand into the ground and created a pool of darkness that had the little Shadows crawl out from. Aqua breathed in as she stepped into a stance to lunge at the creatures.

She tossed a quick glance to Zack, about to ask if he was ready or not, but instead she saw him charging at the creatures. His keyblade already summoned to his hand before he brought down several hits on the monsters.

Aqua smiled before joining him in the fray. While she was taking out the little ones she noticed Zack was stepping back every few seconds and holding out his keyblade. She wondered at first what he was doing, but soon enough she could see a small flame form at the tip of his keyblade. It fired outward and hit one of the little Shadows, knocking it back to the ground.

With Zack starting to get the hang of a basic fire spell, Aqua started feeling a little more relieved. Though she knew she couldn't do it all fully yet. She had been hoping to get Zack to use a cure spell, that being the most important for them to be using. She knew though that it was far trickier than the rest, but she kept hope that within time he would be able to get the hang of it.

It didn't take long for the little Shadows to be cleared out and for them to move on. Heading up further on their path, more showed up though, with the giant ones still looming above them. They plowed as quickly as they could through the next hord of them and once they were done Aqua turned to look and check up on Zack. Before anything was said they quickly moved to a more enclosed area, hopefully out of range of any attacks from the large Shadows.

"Are you good? Any injures?"

"Just a few scratches, nothing too bad at least," Zack replied while stretching his arms slightly.

"Do you think you could try a cure spell?" Aqua said before turning around slightly to glance up to the skies at the larger creatures. She was still feeling a bit wary of them as they only stood there watching with their glowing yellow eyes.

"Maybe, I thought I felt it before but then I started thinking about attacking the little guys and I made a fire spell instead," Zack replied. "Oh! How did I do on that? Was it good for my first magic attempt?"

Aqua nodded, smiling. "Yes, it is a good start, but you have a long way before you can get any more complicated with it."

"Oh boy I know that for sure. I want to be able to do all those quick moves that you do, but I am sure you have had many years to practice."

Another nod came from Aqua. "Yes, but I would like you to try right now for a cure spell. Think about what I explained before with how the thought process goes."

"All right, I will give it a shot."

Zack held the keyblade up over his head and closed his eyes. Aqua watched as the expression in his face smoothed out to something much more calm. He breathed in slowly and then he let it back out. A few moments past where nothing happened and finally Zack lowered his keyblade and sighed.

"I guess I don't have it yet."

Aqua stepped forward and placed her hand on his shoulder, warranting him to look at her. "You don't have to worry about it. It isn't about getting things right away, but as long as you keep at it, you will get it."

"I know," Zack said, bopping his head in response. "I just want to make sure that I can do these things so I can help out more."

"I understand," Aqua replied. "Your heart is in the right place, it just needs to reach out and find the next steps."

"Thanks Aqua, glad I got you to believe in me," Zack said, smiling broadly.

"You're welcome."

The two of them then moved on, entering into a more caverness like area. But it was not a stone that created the place, but instead wrapped trees. The many old and depcepty trees twisted and bend over one another, forming the narrowed path. There were a few crystals that stuck out, embedded in the trees, giving the only real source of light to follow.

As they were making their way in the long and dark hand of one of the giant Shadows crashed through the trees, hitting the ground just in front of Aqua. She jumped back and instantly cast a reflected barrier around her and Zack. The hand retracted slowly and the monster when back to just stared, though it looked like it could attack again at any given second.

"Hurry, before they all begin to attack," Aqua said while breaking into a light sprint.

They ran side by side until they saw the path grew narrower. The ground shook slightly as they saw the tall Shadows peaking through the open spots in tree cavern. Though Aqua saw that there was one large root that ran through the pathway before them.

Not wasting any time she grabbed into Zack's wrist and pulled him forward. "Hold on tight, we need to move quickly through here."

Zack wasn't even given a chance before Aqua jumped up and created a flow of magic around the both of them. As soon as their feet touched the large root, the magic formed under them and Aqua carefully began to glide along. As she did she could hear a rather surprised and extremely enthusiastic gasp from Zack. No doubt he would ask her countless questions later on how she did that and when he could be taught.

Despite her initial weariness of ever passing on the keyblade to someone, she found herself smiling on the inside now with Zack. He not only was her friend and someone to keep her from creeping into the lonely darkness, but he had such a wonder about everything he didn't know about. She never really had noticed it before, but with a rather quick glance back at him, she could see now how much wonder was in his eyes.

It was warming to see such brightness and hopefully after so long, Aqua already knew that since the moment they ran into each other. It reminded her of the realm of light, and how much was out there waiting to be returned to.

Aqua then performed a quick managed on the root to dodge an oncoming attack from the Shadow nearby and then they were on their way again. While she did she felt Zack's hand adjust to also be holding onto her, making the hold a little more sturdy.

" _When we get back to the realm of light I will have to properly train Zack in all that I know. There's only so much that I can do here. It makes me wonder though, what kind of keyblade wielder he will become. Starting his journey in this place I know isn't the greatest, but at least he is doing well so far."_

The giant Shadows were starting to try and attack more. Aqua pushed her thoughts out of her head and focused more on trying not to get hit. Thoughts like she was having could be saved for after they were in the clear. Though the attacks were picking up and sooner or later one would attack them at the moment to try and disturb her gliding.

"Zack!" Aqua shouted. "If you can, I need you to hold on closer. I may have to jump soon."

"Oh! If you saw so," Zack replied.

Aqua felt him pull himself closer and then he was holding right onto her. His arms under hers as to not restrict her from using magic or her keyblade. "Uh… I-Is this okay?"

Honestly the closeness was a bit more than she expected, but it was what was needed. She couldn't risk just pulling Zack along just by his wrist. "No, it's fine. Just try and hold on."

Aqua then jumped up while the large darkened hand came plunging in for them. Aqua used a bit more magic to try and make the two of them a bit lighter, just enough to get over the hand and land back on the root. She knew with Zack holding one to her there would be extra weight, but it wasn't anything she couldn't prepare for.

Though she hadn't prepared for Zack to squeeze a little tighter when she made the jump. No doubt started by the action she had just prepared. After they landed she felt his arms relax a bit, all while still keeping a tight enough grip around her.

Eventually they reached the end of the root as well as the tree cavern. Aqua jumped off and landed back on the group and Zack finally let go. Right before their eyes Shadows showed up, not even given them the chance to talk or catch their breaths.

These Shadows were different than the ones they had been facing, well at least for Zack. Aqua already had encountered many different types, but in the end they were still all the same. They were dwellers of darkness trying to bring harm to them, and they needed to be stopped.

As they fought, Aqua started to figure out another thing about Zack that she had never realized before. He was a fast learner. He was already able to move much quicker with the keyblade in hand and began blocking more of the attacks from the Shadows rather than just jumping out of the way.

Once that round of Shadows were gone they proceeded a bit further, knowing that the tall Shadows were still behind them. The two of them began to run up a hill, but only a few feet up it they saw that one of the giant Shadows was blocking the pathway. It kneeled down casting large orbs of darkness into the air which directly flew at the two of them.

Zack grunted as he blocked one of the orbs. "Can't we ever just get a break?"

Even with Zack trying to be positive and optimistic, he did seem to have his moments of annoyances. Aqua could agree with him though, she barely had time to sit and catch her breath since finding herself here. Sometimes, though she hated to admit it, her patience was wearing thin with how much she was able to tolerate these creatures.

Striking the Shadow with a heavy blow it finally faded away into darkness. The path was clear, but still far from safe. As they proceed forward Zack cleared his throat. "Do you think… there is ever going to be an end to this?"

"I'm not too sure. I don't know how long you have been here compared to me, but I have been walking for what feels quite a while… but at the same time… time itself feels different here. I don't know how to properly explain it."

"Hmm, aw well. Either way I hope we can at least just…. Hey wait." Zack said as he started to look around the area they were in.

All around them were high rocky structures, with moss covering over most of it. Even further up ahead they could see more trees, but mainly there were vines. Vines wrapped around or stretching out around the tree, thorns sharply protruding from them.

"What is it?" Aqua asked.

"I had an idea… what if we just rested here, just for a bit?"

"Huh?" Aqua asked, surprised to hear the suggested given. "But… if we rest then the Shadows…"

"We'll take turns. You rest first and all guard, then you can guard and I'll take a rest."

Aqua frowned slightly. It wasn't that she was against the idea of resting. It was quite the opposite. She did desperately wish to sit down and relax herself, but she had chosen to constantly be on her feet. She had to keep going and keep on looking for answers and a way out.

Looking around, father up the path she saw more glowing illusions of Ventus and Terra. Aqua quickly rubbed her eyes and they were gone in the next moment. Sighing heavily she brought her gaze to the ground, contemplating the circumstances.

Now this time there was a hand on her shoulder. "Aqua…" Zack started, speaking in a soft voice. "You really look like you need to rest. You look tired."

Aqua stared at him, trying to listen to his words. She knew he meant well and that he only wanted to do what he thought was best, but she still feel so unsure. To take a rest in the place full of darkness… to try and relax knowing more Shadows could come up at any moment. It just didn't feel right to her to do so.

"Ah…" Zack faltered slightly. "I don't mean anything by saying that you are tired! I mean like… I don't mean it as it's like obvious or anything. Not like it's bad to look tired or that it makes you look different. Ah! I mean you still look great and all but…" Zack trailed off before chuckling nervously.

Aqua chuckled softly. Her mood started to brighten up a bit. "Thank you Zack. I know you are only trying your best here. I'm just worried about staying put for too long… more Shadows will find us sooner or later whether or not we stay or keep moving."

"How about just five minutes then? Just take five minutes to sit down and breath?" Zack asked in a suggesting tone.

"Five minutes…" Aqua repeated before mulling it over. SHe looked at Zack once more and saw his expression. His face read of worry and concern, but also genuine honesty and care. Aqua smiled once more after a few moments. "All right, five minutes it is."

"Good. Just sit and relax, and I'll bash any Shadows that try to ruin our relaxing time, 'kay?"

Aqua nodded. "Sounds like a good plan. Are you sure you will be able to handle it though?"

"Trust me I got this!" Zack exclaimed before holding out the keyblade. "I'm getting better each I use this."

"Okay, if you say so, but do let me know if you need me. If anything does happen I mean."

"Of course, just get a little rest. I'll start timing once you sit. That's how it has to be."

With another chuckle, Aqua dismissed her keyblade and sat down on the ground. It only took her a few seconds before she was laying down on her back. She breathed out slowly and was rather glad Zack had suggested this idea.

It felt so foriegn or like a long forgotten memory. To just stop and rest, how strange it felt to her. She breathed in another deep breath and her entire body seemed to lighten up. Every muscle finally stopped fighting to be tense and gave away to a tranquil lose feeling. Though not ever knot undid itself, it was enough to bring a cool and calming sense into Aqua's mind.

She closed her eyes, and trying to visuzle things to clear with this entire relaxation session. She tried to visualize things that were not from the darkness realm but instead from the realm of light. Though initially she wanted to think of home, she choose not to due to the circumstances that last happened there.

Instead she thought about her friends. Every friend she made along the journey to other worlds, but also her most treasured friends. Memories of hanging out with Terra and Ventus came dancing into her mind. With the pleasant thoughts taking over, she felt herself smiling again and actually keeping it for more than a second.

Though she was mainly thinking of Terra and Ventus, someone else started to show up more. Her mind was drifting and now she was thinking of another. It was none other than the boy with spiky black hair and fair blue eyes; Zack. The one true and real person she had come across so far, and also the last person she ever expected to see again, let alone where they even were.

She still barely knew anything about him, other that he reminded her of Ventus but with far more energy. She only knew of his passion to be a hero and also his highly infectious optimism and peppy attitude.

" _If this is ever over… no… when this is all over. I will have to take the time to get to know Zack some more. He still is a rather mysterious boy now that I think about it. But… he does have such a good heart. The energy that radiates from him, it's rather reassuring."_

A few moments later her eyes fluttered open. She had no idea how much time had passed, and now she had only considered that Zack didn't either. Unless he was decided to count five minutes, she wasn't sure how else he would know.

Now that her eyes were open she saw Zack standing beside her, his keyblade still in hand. He was facing away from her, but a second later he turned his head back to look. "Oh, you've awake. Has it already been five minutes?"

"Weren't you supposed to be keeping track of the time?" Aqua asked inquisitively.

"Heh, I kind of realized that I had no real way to keep track,' Zack replied sheepishly. "But I know not too much time has passed at least!"

"That's good to hear," Aqua replied before sitting up. "Now we can switch and you can get the rest you need."

"All right!" Zack cheered before flopping rather dramatically to the ground. He stretched for a few seconds before his entire body relaxed and he placed an arm over his eyes. "I'll just take a quick power snooze. That oughta get my energy back up."

"You mean you're low on energy?" Aqua asked, trying her best not to laugh. "It seemed like you've been doing pretty good so far."

"Well I'm running low! All this running around expended a lot more than I would have thought." Zack replied. "I still gotta lot left, but I need to recover more of it."

Aqua stood up, still with the smile set of her face. "If you say so." She summoned her keyblade and began to examine the environment.

It still was quiet, but that didn't mean she could let her guard down. The creatures of darkness could in fact show back up at any minute… they only seemed to be quiet now… for whatever reason. But either way, Aqua felt more ready than ever now to take them on if they appeared. She made sure not to keep her gaze turned for too long though, just in case the creature decided to sneak up from behind.

When she looked back she saw that Zack was in fact completely passed out. His breathing was steady and slow and his face, that wasn't hidden under his arm, was still and calm. It was certain that he was completely asleep at this point.

She would have thought it was impressive, if she had not seen Terra and Ventus do the same in years past. Maybe all energetic boys were like this. They could easily be bouncing around one minute, but then passed out in a deep sleep the next.

She waited as carefully and quietly as she could, deciding to do some more deep breathing while she waited. With no creatures deciding to show up, there was not much else she could do. Though she still had the feeling they were out there, still waiting for them.

When it felt like five minutes had passed she knelt next to Zack and gently shook his elbow. Though if he was anything like Terra or Ventus when it came to waking up, she was going to have to try harder. He did groan slightly, but showed no real sign of stirring to wake up.

Aqua sighed a little, knowing she should have expected that. She tried a little harder to shake him, hoping that she wouldn't have to resort to more serious methods to wake him up.

Thankfully he stirred a bit more this time and rolled onto his side. He mumbled something that was too soft and jumbled to understand, but Aqua could guess what he was trying to say. "No Zack, you gotta wake up now. We need to keep moving now."

"But… so comfortable…" Zack mumbled, actually much more coherent this time.

"Comfortable? The cold hard ground is really that comfortable?" Aqua asked, in hopes that talking to him enough would get him to finally wake.

"Just relaxing… Just wanna stay relaxing…"

Aqua frowned, seeing that she was going to have to try a little harder. This time she grabbed onto his shoulder and shoved a little, causing him to roll over onto his stomach. Quickly his eyes flew open and he looked around. "Ah! Aqua! Ah… how long was I out for?"

"Thankfully not too long."

Zack chuckled before going to rub the back of his neck. "I guess I should have told you I am a pretty heavy sleeper."

"It was nothing I couldn't handle. Terra and Ventus they are…" Aqua hesitated for a moment. She still did not know the fate of Ventus or Terra. She knew she had left Ventus to rest, but even then what happened after that? And for Terra… what happened after she sent him back to the realm of light? She still had no idea for either of them, and it still worried her greatly.

"Aqua? You okay?" Zack asked, leaning in closer to her.

"I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I only got lost in my thoughts. You just remind me a lot of when it came to trying to wake up Terra or Ventus. That is all."

"I get it. Sorry if I made you think about them, I know you are still worried about them."

"It's nothing to be sorry for," Aqua replied softly, but she couldn't find what else to say.

"Well, let's get back to finding a way out of here," Zack said before jumping to his feet. "We still gotta go and find them together, right?"

"Right."

The two pressed on, both feeling rather refreshed after their short break. The path was still long and most likely filled with Shadows, but they felt more ready than before to take them on. Then just as they expected, there more than shows up. Some pooling from darkness in the ground, others flying in from over head.

Eventually there was an eerie reddish orange light that was up ahead. The two picked up pace and slashed through the creatures coming at them. But when they got out there to see what it was, they both came to a dead halt.

Before them were hundreds of the tall Shadows, so many that they didn't even bother to count. Then up above them in the sky was a giant orb, radiant with powerful energy. Aqua felt Zack moved closer to her side, his eyes fixed on the monsters before them.

"Uh… Aqua?" he asked, his voice quiet unlike how he usually was.

"Yes?"

"Are we really… you know, going to have to…"

Aqua had never heard such a nervous tone from him. It was odd to hear him have a small bit of doubt, but under the circumstances she could understand why. It was truly a scary sight and it only seemed to be getting worse. All of the tall Shadows released their own orbs of energy up into the large one in the sky, making it grow bigger. Aqua could tell that it was only going to be trouble the longer they waited.

"Zack," Aqua said, speaking as strongly as she could. "We have to. We don't have to fight them all, but we at least need to make a run for it. Stick close, okay?"

"Right. Let's do it."

Together they ran, dodging each raining orb of darkness that came down from the sky. They kept along the pathway, seeing that nearly all of the tall Shadows were standing along the side. But then they came across one that was in fact blocking the way.

"Together. Take out this one," Aqua instructed before casting a series of blizzards spells out at it.

Zack nodded and jumped up into the air to strike at the creatures head. Together they worked as quickly as they could to take it down. It proved to be harder though, with the countless ones standing around them sending in darkness attacks and fueling the orb in the sky. But the two of them never once stopped or anything else. They kept at it until the monster was destroyed.

Strangely enough, after that all of the other in the area began to dissolve into the giant orb. Aqua wasn't too sure what connected it to the one that they took out, but it had triggered something at least. All of the creatures were being pulled into that giant orb, and it was starting to pick up a heavy wind.

Aqua cast a barrier around her and Zack, not knowing if it would really help, but she knew she had to try something at least. The two braced themselves as they wind picked up, but then the orb raised into the sky and exploded. The flash from that was enough to have Aqua cover her eyes, and when she opened them, everything was back to normal. Well… as normal as the darkened realm could get.

There was no orb in the sky anymore, and all of the tall Shadows were gone. Aqua sighed as she dismissed raised her keyblade up to cast a cure. That last battle had been awfully tough and she knew that neither her or Zack got out without a scratch.

"Hold on Aqua," Zack said. "Let me try this time."

"Are you sure?" Aqua said as she lowered the keyblade to her side.

"I am always ready to try again, besides I think that battle knocked us around the most," Zack replied before holding up his keyblade. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes just like before, but this time something did happen. A small green glow formed from the tip and fell over Zack, healing up his cuts and bruises.

When he opened his eyes he saw that Aqua still had not been healed. He looked down at himself and then at Aqua. "Huh? How come it didn't heal you?"

"That's because you only have learned the basic cure. There are higher levels to it and the higher ones are able to cure more than one person at a time."

"Ooh," Zack said, taking in the information. "So if I can only heal one person at a time right now… I should do… this?" Zack now held the keyblade over Aqua. He concentrated again and the cure formed, this time covered Aqua and healing her up. "Like that?"

"Just like that. Good job. You really are getting the hang of it."

Zack smiled broadly. "Of course I am! Plus you are teaching me really well!"

"Am I? Aqua asked, still doubting her ability in having to teach another. Though it was true that Zack was learning quickly, she only thought that was because he could adapted fairly easily.

"Totally! I had no idea magic could be that complex. It only makes me more excited to practice ti more!'

"Well don't over do it, running out of magic can be quite draining. And then having to wait for the energy to replenish can always be daunting if you are impatient."

Zack scoffed dramatically. "What? Impatient? Me? I don't know what you're talking about. But… since you brought it up… how long does it take to replenish magic if you use it all up in a session?"

Aqua laughed once more. She was beginning to find herself doing these actions more and more now that Zack was here. It was a good thing though. She had spent far too much time alone without a soul to talk to. Having him here and smiling and laughing with him truly something nice that she realized she desperately needed.

She knew that she kept repeating herself on these thoughts, being happy to have someone here but still not happy for the fact that they were both in this realm. It was something that kept playing over and over in his mind. She hated to see poor Zack trapped here like her, but she wouldn't want to be alone. She was tired of being alone.

Though there were still things that bothered her that only were for her to see. Like the phantoms. She turned and saw them up ahead on the pathway again. Sighing she stared long and hard at them, wondering if it really meant anything or if she was just slowly going crazy.

"Aqua? What are you looking at?" Zack asked as he looked in the same direction as her.

"Nothing… I mean… just more illusions," Aqua breathed out.

"So you think we should head that way? I mean it is the only real place that we can go from here."

"Yeah, let's see whether or not it really means anything," Aqua said before pressing forward with Zack right by her side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now it is the debate of whether Zack will also see the Terra and Ventus that Aqua sees. Hmmm.   
> Let me know if you guys have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.


	3. Chapter 3

Zack followed by Aqua's side while they walked down the path. Aqua stared to walk slowly as they continued forward. She could see them again… Terra and Ventus. They were not like the phantom she had been seeing, these two were solid looking from a quick glance. But they only stood there, with their backs to her, staying motionless and silent.

Aqua placed a hand over her chest before letting out a heavy sigh. She tried not to let herself get too curious or excited about what she saw, thinking on it only as another trick of her mind. But the closer she got, the more she couldn't help but look at them.

"Aqua?" Zack asked.

"I… I can see them again, but I'm not sure if they are just more phantoms…" Aqua explained, not once taking her eyes off Terra and Ventus.

"What do you mean you're not sure?"

"They don't look like the phantoms I've seen already… they are only standing there and nothing more…" Aqua said before raising her arm to point in the direction that she saw them.

Zack turned to look and frowned a moment later. "But I don't see anything over there."

Aqua sighed, lowering her head. She gripped her shirt gently while she stared at the ground. "I figured as much… I really must be going crazy..."

"No, Aqua! Don't think that!" Zack shouted before placing a hand onto Aqua's hand that was over her chest. "There has to be an explanation…"

Zack trailed off, his gaze shifting back to where Aqua had pointed. His eyes narrowed, looking like he was squinting to see something. "Huh…?"

"What is it Zack?"

Zack pulled his hand away from Aqua and kept on staring. He blinked a few times before rubbing his eyes. "I… I don't know if it was really anything, but I thought I saw them. You know, Terra and Ven."

"You only saw them? Meaning you don't anymore?" Aqua asked as she looked back, still seeing them in plain sight.

"No I didn't, but for a moment I thought I did when I…" Zack trailed off again as he looked to Aqua. "When I placed my hand on yous…"

"Hmm…" Aqua hummed, trying to reach for an answer. "I don't understand this myself… I'm not entirely sure. But I think we should move forward and see if what I am seeing is real or not."

"Agreed. Maybe I'll see them again if we get closer or something."

Aqua nodded before she started to run forward with Zack right behind her. The closer she got, the more she saw how solid and real they looked. She couldn't help herself as she shouted out, hoping that there was some actuality to this. "Terra! Ven!"

Much to her surprise she saw Terra turned around to face her. "Aqua, you're…"

Aqua stared with wide eyes. "Terra. You spoke?"

Zack now looked at Aqua and then to the empty space where she was staring. "Huh? You mean what you are seeing actually said something? Is it really Terra?"

Aqua didn't answer him and instead walked forward, looking at the area in front of her. "Of course! I see Ven too." she answered without facing Zack. She turned her head to the side slightly presumably where she was seeing Ventus.

Zack wasn't even sure if she was talking to him or not since she had not even looked at him when she spoke. Zack walked forward and stood by her side, taking note of her gaze, which was locked onto the emptiness before them.

"Terra, what's wrong? Don't you see him?"

Now Zack was starting to grow more concerned as Aqua seemingly talked to nothing. He thought about interrupting her, but he was still trying to understand what he was seeing happen in front of him.

"A world the darkness has consumed," Aqua said. "It's Enchanted Dominion."

After a short pause Aqua began to frown. "What's gotten into you? How do I know that you're Terra? And not the weakness that's in my heart playing more tricks?"

The longer Aqua carried on this cryptic conversation with nothing, the more Zack's concern grew. She talked about seeing phantoms before, and Zack understood. Since entering this realm he had seen his own fair share of phantoms, but this was seemingly different than those other times. This time she had said that what she saw looked solid, that they were different than before. But that still left things to be questioned.

She answered questions he didn't hear, and asked some of her own that didn't make sense. He wondered if perhaps the darkness was finally getting to her. Maybe Aqua had totally lost it. He considered stopping her, bringing her to her senses, but was wary of interrupting. What if the figures she was seeing were real, and he was the crazy one?

Finally Zack shook his head. He couldn't let his doubts get to him like that so easily. Quickly he stepped forward and reached out to Aqua before she could say anymore. "Aqua…" He placed his hand over Aqua's again and then he noticed something in the corner of his eye. He gasped before drawing his hand back again.

Aqua finally turned to look at Zack, curious why he reacted in such a manner. "Zack? What's wrong?" Aqua then turned her head back to where she was looking before. "Yes, he's here too. Can you not see him either? Ven… please say something." Aqua moved a few feet over and looked more and more worried.

Zack started to walk over to Aqua and then she gasped slightly. "What do you mean?"

There was a longer pause this time before her next sentence came. "Then you're here, trapped in the realm of darkness."

Then eventually she nodded. " I understand." A second later she turned to look at Zack. "Wait… with that in mind… Zack… what was it you reacted to?"

"I thought I saw Terra again, like before," Zack explained.

"Hmm," Aqua hummed before walking over to him. She reached out and took his hand into hers and brought it close to her chest. "Can you see him now?"

Zack looked and much to his surprise he did in fact see Terra standing there, and Ventus, while still turned away, also was there. His eyes widened as he continued to stare. He tried to wrap his mind around the idea, but no answers could come how it was even possible what he was seeing.

"Yeah… I can see him. Faintly, but I do see him standing there. Ven too."

"Then I think I have figured it out. I think it may be because of my connection in my heart to Terra and Ven. Because of the strength it has I am able to see them how my heart wants to see them wherever they may be." Aqua breathed in deeply before looked to where Zack could see Terra standing now. "Does this mean you and Ven are safe in the outside world?"

Zack watched as Terra opened his mouth. He had something, but whatever it was Zack was unable to hear it. " _I guess that trying to reach for a connection this way can only go so far…"_ Though Zack thought he could try reading the lips of Terra, but even then he wasn't all to good and that.

"That's good. But, how did you find me?" Aqua asked.

Terra moved his lips again before placing his hand over his chest. Even without being able to hear the words, Zack had an easy guess what he probably was saying. Or he at least had a general idea of what it was implying. Zack thought to at least tell Aqua this, figuring that she didn't know he couldn't hear Terra, but he didn't want to interrupt the two from their conversation.

"Right," but why does your heart have...ties to the darkness now? What did you mean 'lost in shadow'?"

Terra walked away from the two of them all while he lowered his head. He then turned back around to look at Aqua, speaking again to her.

"He'll never find him. I hid Ven well," Aqua said before turning to glance over at Ventus. "I think the reason he's not talking to me here, is because he's still there sleeping."

Zack looked at Ventus who stood to the left of them. He stood there, but his head was lowered and he didn't move from his spot. He only swayed ever so slightly, but other than that there was no other movement. " _Sleeping? What could have happened since I last saw these guys…?"_

He took in Aqua's pensive look and went to place his other hand on her shoulder. He wasn't sure if he would get any answers as to what transpired, but he could see how it hurt Aqua. Her look was one of worry and doubt and he had been seeing that a lot in her since they found each other.

"Yes…" Aqua said, answer something that Terra must have said to her.

Zack and Aqua turned to look back at him, but both of them gasped in surprise. Terra now had pure white hair, making quick a stark difference within the darkened realm. Quickly Aqua let go of Zack's hand, causing the image of Terra to fade away. She then took a stance to shield Ventus. A million questions were forming on Zack's head, but he didn't get any change to ask, he could only stare and wonder what is happening between Aqua and Terra.

"Who are you? Really."

Aqua stepped forward, shock now filling her face. "Terra!"

Darkness burst up around, first as just a small burst, but then it began to slowly rise from the ground. Zack moved closer to Aqua, wanting to know what was happening, but he knew going to reach for her at this moment would not be for the best. All he could do is wait and hope that she could explain what was happening. It made him feel quite useless since he was unable to know how or what was causing this, though he figured it had something to do with Terra. But he just wished that he could understand it all.

"Terra!" Aqua shouted again, but she didn't move from her spot.

"Aqua!" Zack shouted moving even closer to Aqua. No longer could he take just standing around trying to assume things. "What's going on? What happened to Terra?"

Suddenly a dark portal appeared behind them. A large dark arm stretched out from it and grabbed onto Ventus. It only took a second for Aqua to turn around but another dark hand reached out and snatched Aqua and Zack together.

Zack and Aqua grunted as the hand gripped them tightly, nearly crushed them together. "Aqua… you okay?" Zack breathed out what he tried to say while trying to focus on Aqua.

"I'm fine… but…" Aqua tried to look past Zack, over at the other hand that was holding Ventus. She frowned as she looked over in that direction."Ven…"

"Aqua…" Zack whishered, though his strength was weakening. Somehow whatever was happening seemed to be draining him. It wasn't only him though, he could see the weariness in her eyes.

A burst of bright light came from the side, but Zack could barely keep his eyes open anymore. He lowered his head as his eyes began to shut just as he heard Aqua murmur something but it was too soft for him to figure out. He breathed out as he tried to keep himself awake, but the darkness began to surround him and then he gave away into it.

* * *

Aqua felt like she was falling into the darkness, but she didn't feel afraid or worried by it. She actually felt relaxed and all her worries seemed to be fading away. All of the weight she had was leaving her and she closed her eyes, giving into it even more.

"Aqua, are you okay?"

At first Aqua thought it was Zack, but the voice did not match. She opened her eyes to find another friend that she had not expected to see. He was standing before her, placing her wayfinder back in her hand.

She wasn't able to ask him anything before he pulled her back towards the ground. Once they were there, she was finally able to speak what was on her mind. "Mickey, how did…"

She was about to continue when she noticed something. She glanced around to see that they were the only two in sight. "Terra! Ven!" her heart skipped a beat after that. "Zack…"

Something unpleasant turned in her chest. " _He was right with me… where could he be."_

"No time to talk," Mickey stated as hundreds of little Shadows bursts from the ground forming a small swirling pillar of them.

"Shadows…" Aqua sighed before summoning her keyblade. Dealing with more of them right now was not what she wanted to do.

"They're called Heartless!" Mickey exclaimed.

" _Heartless…"_ Aqua thought to herself but left no verbal comment. After that she went to attack and defeat the creatures she now knew were called the Heartless.

She wasn't able to defeat the Heartless, not even with Mickey at her side. The tower of Heartless ended up flying up into the sky heading someplace else.

"Better not push our luck," Mickey said before he dismissed his keyblade. After Aqua dismissed hers he looked at her. "Gosh. I never thought I'd find ya in the realm of darkness, that's for sure. So, um, what happened?"

Aqua did not feel like trying to explain her situation. She was still not ready to do that yet. Besides she had more pressing questions on her mind than telling her adventure so far. "Have you seen Terra or Ven? Or… or a young boy with black hair around here?'

Mickey shook his head. "No, just you."

Aqua sighed heavily as she lowered her head. She ran her hands over one another, trying to prevent them from trembling. Doubt and fear were creeping into her once more and she wasn't sure how to confront it.

Zack was missing. He wasn't here besides her, but she last remembered that he was. " _He could… could I have just imaganged him this entire time? The darkness just warped my mind so much that I believe he was there?"_ Aqua ran her hands together again, remembering how she had held Zack's hand to allow him to see Terra. " _No… his touch was real. I know he was here… but then… where is he now?"_

"Aqua?" Mickey asked, snapping Aqua from her thoughts.

She slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry. The darkness in this place, it's getting to me… and I am worried…" she trailed off though before she could explain the true reason why she was worried. All she kept thinking was that she needed to find where Zack was and if he was all right.

"Oh. But, you'll be okay," Mickey said trying to sound reassuring.

"Right…" Aqua agreed, but there was little confidence in her tone.

"Say, we've been looking for ya a long time. How come you're in this place?"

Aqua was surprised but relieved to hear that people had been looking for her. She hadn't been forgetting. But then her thoughts went right back to thinking about Zack without even realizing it. " _I wonder if anyone has looked for Zack… he was just a regular boy that had no involvement in the great battles in worlds outside of his own. But now…"_

Aqua cleared her throat, deciding to find out an answer that she had been wondering for some time. "First tell me: how long's it been in the realm of light?"

"About… ten years," Mickey answered softly.

" _Ten years… it has been ten years for me since I came to this place… and that means for Zack it could be about the same since he barely looks older than when I last saw him. We've been here so long yet to us barely any time has passed…"_

After that Mickey and Aqua conversed a bit more, with her asking about what had happened in the realm of light since she had left it. She needed to get some solid answers anyways even if she still wondered about so much more. But even with Mickey explaining some things, many of her questions and thoughts were left unanswered. It was mainly the one concerning Terra, but she still wanted to believe that he was out there fighting his darkness.

"Does that mean you know an exit?" Aqua asked once Mickey explained his plan to her.

Mickey paused slightly before answering. "Well, uh, I was so busy finding a way in, that I didn't give a lot of thought to where there'd be a way out. But, together we're sure to find one!"

Aqua chuckled softly. "You haven't changed at all."

Mickey laughed as well. "May our hearts be our guiding key."

"There's a phrase no one's used in ages."

"Keyblade wielders used to say those words to each other." Mickey raised his hand up and looked up to the darkened sky. Slowly he clenched his hand into a fist. "And now, it's something I like to try and remember. So. Ready?" He turned to Aqua and held out his hand to her.

"Ready," Aqua said as she took his hand and shook it. "Though… there is still something I need to do… something that can't wait any longer."

"Oh? What's that?"

"In my time here, I ran into a boy named Zack. I had actually met him before when I journeyed to other worlds, though I have no idea how he ended up here. But I had been traveling with him for some time now. But… we've been separated… I have to find him. He just started to learn how to use a keyblade so he won't be able to fair too much on his own still. He only began to try using cure."

Mickey looked surprised at her. "He has a keyblade?"

"I bequeathed him after finding him. I wasn't about to let him continue in this place without a proper weapon to fight the Sha-... I mean Heartless. He has a good heart though," Aqua replied as she placed her hand over her heart. "But I need to find him. Mickey, please help me find him first. I don't think I would be able to focus otherwise. I know he has to be nearby… I can feel it."

"Right! Let's look for him along the way, okay?"

"Yes," Aqua said with a heavy sigh. " _Don't worry Zack, I'll find you, Please be all right."_

The two of them worked their way through the realm of darkness, with them now being in a very rocky and spacious area compared to the forest before. There were still plenty of Heartless along the area, all of them trying to attack from all angles.

Eventually they progressed further more and more Heartless decided to show up. It was made much easier with the two of them since they were both masters of the keyblade. But eventually Aqua spotted something ahead that stood out in the darkness.

There were Heartless already roaming around, but there was something else that they were trying to get near. When she got close enough to truly see what it was, her heart skipped a beat. There was a reflective barrier up with Zack inside. But he was not standing up with it surrounding him. Instead he was crumpled up on the ground, not moving an inch. She pushed forward, running faster without even a word to Mickey.

"Zack!" she shouted as she sliced through the Heartless.

While some paid attention to her, most still focused on what they had already been focusing on. The reflective barrier around Zack was slowly cracking with each attack the Heartless gave, and Aqua knew it wouldn't last much longer.

Quickly moving around Aqua took out the remaining Heartless just as the barrier finally faded away. He still laid there on the ground, with his knees half way pulled to his chest. One arm was slightly outstretched with his keyblade within his grasp.

When Aqua keeled down next to him, she could hear his rapid breathing. Raising her keyblade up she cast a cure spell over him first, not knowing if he was injured or not. "Zack?"

Carefully he lifted his head and dismissed his keyblade at the same time. When his eyes met Aqua's she could see how tear stained and red they were. "A-Aqua?"

Aqua wasn't abel to respond in time before Zack threw his arms around her, holding her tightly. "Aqua! Y-You're all right! You're… you're okay… and you're here… You're still here… thank goodness…"

Aqua didn't know how to react. Zack was sobbing into her shoulder while hugging her. Despite his tight hold, she could feel the trembling motion in his arms. It didn't make any sense for these things to be coming from Zack. But then it left Aqua to wonder just how much had happened since she was last with Zack.

"Are you okay? Zack, please breath," Aqua said as gently as she could.

"I thought… I thought it was all just a dream. I woke up around here and you weren't there. I began to fear I just had gone crazy and imagined you being here. But then… I saw I still had the keyblade. I knew it had to have been real… but you weren't anywhere nearby and I… and… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Aqua placed her arms around Zack, trying to find a way to comfort him. This still seemed so odd to be coming from Zack. She knew him as a cheerful and optimistic boy full of energy. To see him terrified and shaken was the complete opposite.

But then she remembered when she first saw Zack here. He had been not only running from Heartless, but he had been seeing phantoms of his own. " _Has he been trying to deny what his heart wants to feel… with that being fear? He always is trying to be strong, but…"_

Aqua pulled Zack back from his embrace and they locked eyes again. She studied how wide and red they were. It all was beginning to make sense now. Before she had only seen what she expected, which was his optimism. But now she saw what was behind that layer.

"Zack, it's okay," Aqua said, still speaking softly and gently.

Zack shook his head. "No it's not… I lost you. I failed to stay by your side. We're supposed to stick together… help each other. I'm just a failure…"

Aqua frowned at Zack's words. It hurt her heart to see him so hurt over what had happened. "That's not true, Zack." Aqua pulled Zack back into an embrace. "We found each other again and you are no failure. You managed to cast a reflect spell all on your own."

"I… I did?" Zack asked, his voice still raw from his sobs. "Oh… yeah, that's what it was…"

Zack breathed slowly, and soon enough the trembling in his hands calmed down. He continued to rest against Aqua though, letting her hold him. He kept breathing until he felt like he had finally calmed down enough to sit up straight.

"Thanks Aqua," Zack said before going to wipe away the remaining tears that he still had. He started to smile again, the warmth and usually cheeriness shone through like before. "I'm glad you're okay! But uh… what happened?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but I was found by a friend shortly after we got separated," Aqua said before turning to Mickey who was only standing a few feet away from them. "This is Mickey, he's helping to find a way out of here."

"Hiya Zack," Mickey said. "It's nice to meet you."

Zack smiled a friendly smile. "Same to you! So now we can all work together and get out of this place finally?"

"That's the goal at least," Aqua said before she stood up. She held out her hand to Zack and he took it within a second.

As soon as she pulled him up to his feet he began to do some stretches. "Well that's good at least. And hey! You said I cast a reflect spell, was it really that good?"

Aqua laughed lightly. "It looked like it. You needed to protect yourself as best as you could and you managed to create a strong barrier. It's nice to know you are really picking up on magic."

"I gotta try one way or another!" Zack proclaimed proudly.

"All right!" Mickey said. "If we are all ready, let's carry on."

"Right," Aqua said before glancing to Zack again. His expression was back to normal with him smiling and looking confident. It looked like nothing had ever happened with him before. He looked perfectly fine and it didn't seem like he was going to talk about it at all. But now she knew… she knew that she wasn't the only hiding away their fears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little touch of angst, poor Zack isn't all happiness all the time. He has his weakness as well.


	4. Chapter 4

The trio walked together along the darkened pathways, fighting off any Heartless that would come in their direction. Aqua still kept a close eye on Zack the entire time, still thinking about his fear he expressed before. Though his confidence seemed to be restored and he was learning more and more the further they went on.

It still worried her but she knew it would be rude of her to try and pry on the subject. But maybe… maybe when they were finally out of this, they could just take the time to sit and talk. It sounded like a dream, but it felt like a nice dream to have after all the two of them had gone through.

He was still improving with his skills and using the keyblade. Though he hadn't worked on any magic beside the three spells he learned so far, he was now working on trying to be more strategic with his moves and attacks. He truly was determined to improve and Aqua had to give credit to him for trying so hard.

Eventually they started to see a strange light ahead… or maybe really it was just natural light. But for it to be in the Realm of Darkness felt strange. But Mickey kept on leading them forward, seemingly not phased by what was ahead.

" _I wonder…"_ Aqua thought. " _Just where does this lead?"_

Once they got closer she saw that the ground went from stone to sand all the way to where the light was. Her pace slowed as they started trekking over the sand, still amazing to see the light before her and what looked like to be land from another world.

"Whoa…" Zack murmured. "That's where we're heading?"

"Yes," Aqua answered. "We shouldn't wait too much longer though. Come on."

Aqua started to pick up her pace to catch up with Mickey and soon Zack was right besides her again. When they walked closer to the light everything in their eyes adjusted and Aqua could finally get a good look at where they were. It was a very familiar sight even if it did look a little different than before.

"What kind of place is this?" Zack asked.

"This is… where I met those children…" Aqua muttered as she looked out at the corrupted landscape.

"So many worlds have been lost. And now they're trapped here in the dark," Mickey said before looking at Aqua. "Wait… you know this place, Aqua?"

Aqua nodded. "Yes. I visited once, and I met two boys I considered passing the keyblade on to. But because Terra had already given one of them the power, I didn't."

Mickey gasped. "Aqua. What were the boy's names?"

Crossing her arms, with one hand resting under her chin, she thought deeply to recall the memory. "They were… Sora and Riku."

Now Mickey was the one to look serious in thought. "I see. We're getting warm."

"What does that even mean?" Zack asked, who still felt a little left out since he was still new to the whole keyblade stuff.

"Sora and Riku are the ones who've been helpin' me," Mickey explained. "We're tryin' to get that door shut for good."

"The same boys?" Aqua asked, clearing a little surprised.

"Aqua, if this is where my friends first got the keyblade, it almost must be where we'll find its counterpart. The keyblade of darkness has gotta be here on the dark side of their world."

"Hey, wait a minute, how could it be the same kids?" Zack asked.

Aqua turned to Zack and gave him a look. With all that had happened with going to find him and then what happened after… she had neglected to tell him something he should have known sooner. "Zack… when I found Mickey, he explained that it had been ten years since last he saw me."

Zack's eyes widened. "Wait! T-Ten years? You mean… you and I… we've been…"

Before Aqua could answer, the ground shook with a loud tremendous rumble, but it quickly faded after a few seconds. With a look of determination Mickey started to move forward. "There'll be time to talk later. We have to hurry. C'mon!"

Aqua glanced at Zack. "Are you going to be all right?"

"Huh? Oh yeah… just gotta let that info sink in I guess."

"I understand, I'm still processing it myself. But let's go," Aqua said before she ran to catch up with Mickey.

The three of them headed up onto a pathway on the island that led to a dark cave, but before they could get any closer a horde of Heartless burst through. It was many of the little ones all together in formation like before, like a cyclone in the sense. It flew up into the sky and started circling around above the trio, and they summoned their keyblades in response.

Once it came down closer to the ground it started to kick up sand everywhere but it didn't stop the three from beginning their attacks. Now with the three working together things went a bit faster but still were just as deadly with how the horde attacked them.

* * *

Eventually all of the Heartless were defeated and the darkness caused by them faded away. Now that they were at peace again Mickey pointed to where the Heartless had come from. "Let's keep goin'."

"So wait, we gotta go to the place that crazy Heartless horde was coming from?" Zack asked between heavy breathes.

"It's what we gotta do to find that keyblade," Mickey explained.

Aqua moved a bit closer to Zack and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure you will be able to handle all of this?"

"Of course!" Zack shouted proudly. "It's just a lot of new stuff. But just give me some time and I'll get it! It's just a bit crazy what some of those heartless can do."

"Right, but we can handle it, Aqua said with a nod.

"Well I am learning from the best," Zack grinned happily.

Aqua smiled. "Thank you."

"All right, let's keep moving," Zack said before moving forward.

Walking down into the cave they eventually came to an open area with a blank door embedded into the stone. Zack thought it was a bit strange, but he had a feeling maybe it was connected to the whole keyblade thing. He kept it in mind though to ask later if he didn't forget.

"I bet it's in here," Mickey stated before walking closer to the door.

He pressed a hand to it and Aqua followed to do the same.

Slowly the door creaked open and revealed a dark void. But right in the center of wherever they were… was a keyblade floating in the middle of it. Mickey pointed to it. "There!"

As the group walked closer, Aqua was the one to speak up. "Is that what you were after?"

"Yup, it's just the key I was looking for. A keyblade from the dark realm!"

"A keyblade of darkness…" Aqua murmured softly.

"The door of darkness… tied by two keys. The door of darkness… to seal the light," Mickey said as he took the keyblade. It's glowing light died down now it just looked like a regular keyblade. "Welp, we've got the keys. Now, we find the ones to close the door."

"Sorry?" Aqua asked.

Zack quickly glanced to Aqua for the moment. " _Wait, is she just as lost as I am? Cause I totally am not getting anything he is saying."_

"The door between the two realms, it won't let a heart with light pass through. So only darkness keeps spilling out. We can lock the door by using the two keyblades, but we need help on both sides to get the door shut."

"Well, then, since you'll be doing the locking, let me be the one to close the door," Aqua said as she placed a hand over her chest.

"Aqua wait, would that be dangerous or something? I mean I still don't get everything, but it sounds really risky," Zack interjected.

"It's okay," Mickey said. "That job's already been taken… by someone else."

"Huh? But-"

The ground shook again and this time a blinding light surrounded the group. They closed their eyes until the light faded away. Now looking around they were in a slightly different location with strange darkness pillars sticking up all over.

When they started to walk a little bit, Zack noticed something in the distance. "Um… could that be what you're looking for?"

He pointed out to where there was a large decorative white door, a truly strange site to see just in the middle of nowhere. "Yup the door to Kingdom Hearts."

"Weird," Zack commented.

"Welp," Mickey said before turning to Aqua. "It's not the Kingdom Hearts you know. Not exactly. But even though it's smaller, it's still the heart of many worlds. And even if it's not a complete Kingdom Hearts, we definitely can't leave it open like this, or darkness will escape and destroy the remaining worlds."

" _I never knew there was stuff like this for everything… I mean I knew there were other worlds after all… but all of this. Gah… I am going to have sooo many questions after this,"_ Zack thought to himself, knowing it was not the time now to ask these thoughts aloud.

"It's time. With this key and Sora's in the realm of light, we're going to close this door. Now all we need is Riku."

"Sora, Riku…" Aqua whispered softly.

"There!" Mickey shouted suddenly.

Across the way there was a young boy with silver hair running towards the door. He didn't seem to notice them as they ran close as he just kept on moving. "That's everybody! Come on Aqua and Zack-"

Before Mickey could finish a burst of darkness was heard and another horde of a Heartless cyclone appeared. It flew over their heads though, heading straight for Riku instead, who was failing to notice the Heartless that were coming near him.

Right away Aqua ran forward and cast a spell of chains to wrap around the Heartless. "Back off!" All the glowing chains wrapped and constrained the Heartless, compacting them into a ball. Though it seemed Aqua was struggling to hold them in place as it was beginning to drag her one way to another.

Zack stared at first but started to run closer. He had to try and do something to help! While he ran closer he could hear Mickey shouting from behind him.

"Aqua!" Mickey shouted.

"Go without me!"

"No I-"

The chains burst just as Zack had gotten close enough to Aqua to help. She was nearly knocked back to the ground from the force, but Zack was quick to catch her. The horde flew up quickly then dove down right at all three of them. It all happened before anyone of them could realize but the Heartless grabbed onto them and started carrying them off somewhere. But with the force of the Heartless slamming into them, Aqua fell back into Zack and he quickly wrapped his arms around her. He had no idea what was going to happen, but he wasn't going to let Aqua go though time.

"Zack!" Aqua shouted.

Suddenly she could feel the Heartless spacing out and now there was enough of a gap that the two of them fell free from them. Falling a slightly bit, they tumbled down to the ground rather unceremoniously.

Groaning, Zack jumped up to his feet and held out a hand to Aqua to pull her up quickly. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Aqua breathed out slowly as she stood up. She could feel how tired her body was at this moment. Sure potions and cure could make things easier but they didn't remove physical exhaustion. "Thank you."

"Hey! Where's Mickey?" Zack said as he started to look around.

"He must still be back there. It's only us again," Aqua said before looking up at the flying horde that was seemingly waiting to attack.

"But we will handle it, right?" Zack said, offering her another of his grins.

"Right," Aqua nodded to him. "We can do this."

The two of them summoned their keyblades once more and prepared to do battle with the countless Heartless build up in the flying monstrosity. With the two of them side by side they launched into attacking it just like they had done before. Both of them tried their hardest and made sure to keep an eye on the other. They could see how tired the other looked, but there was not much they could do about it in the situation. All they could do was keep on fighting and support the other.

* * *

Eventually the Heartless were defeated. With a heavy sigh Aqua dropped down to her knees, letting the keyblade fall into the sand right next to her. Zack, though rather exhausted himself, managed to dismiss his keyblade before making it over to Aqua. He too flopped down onto the sand and just layed there breathing in deeply.

"Did… we do it?"

Aqua hummed. "Yes." Slowly she sighed before laying down on her back..

"Now what?"

"I don't know. Just a bit tired I guess," Aqua said as she stared up at the sky.

Zack looked up at the passing clouds and saw how peaceful they looked. With no other Heartless or any other danger in sight he thought maybe it would be okay just to lay down and relax.

"It's beautiful," commented.

"Yeah… I've missed seeing the sky like this."

As the two of them watched, the clouds moved before them and the sky changed to be night. Everywhere in the vastness of the sky they could see hundreds upon hundreds of stars. Aqua started to smile. "The stars are out. Terra… Ven…." Aqua sighed deeply.

"Something wrong?"

"Hm… I remember when I used to watch the stars with them… now it's just me again…"

"Hey…" Zack said as he turned her head to look at Aqua. He reached his hand over and held on to hers. "I'm here. I may not be Terra or Ven, but you aren't alone Aqua."

The kindness and honesty spoken in his words lighten the feeling Aqua felt. Knowing Zack was there still was a nice reassurance that she wasn't totally alone anymore. She turned and smiled at him. "Thank you, Zack."

Suddenly little bits of light began to fall from the sky, drawing their attention to that. Aqua smiled once more. "They did it. The worlds are being restored."

Though they were looking at the sky in the world, darkness slowly surrounded them but they were far too tired to really react. They were tired and slowly their eyes were growing heavy with want for sleep. Even though they were drifting off, feeling like they were falling, they kept their hands together with their fingers laced together tightly.

"May our hearts be our guiding key. You'll know… where we are…" Aqua muttered softly to herself.

* * *

Aqua's eyes flickered open slowly. Her body felt less sore than it had before, but there was still some exhaustion. The first thing she noticed was just where she was… which was back in the Realm of Darkness. While it did feel a bit disappointing to be back there, she knew it was her choice and it was what happened. But at least the realm of light was safe. That was what mattered most.

Secondly as she started to sit up she noticed something on her hand… or really holding on to it. Turning to look she saw that Zack still was there with his hand still holding on to hers. He was still fast asleep with a calm and relaxed face. As she thought it over, she could feel the slightly bit of warmth fill her cheeks.

But she brushed it off quickly and went to wake up Zack. She nudged him gently with her free hand. "Zack… wake up." Hopefully this time trying to wake him up would be easier than the last time.

Zack mumbled slightly like before, but this time he started to stir much faster. Yawning he sat up and right away saw he was still holding Aqua's hand. He quickly let go and started to laugh a bit sheepishly. "Ah ha… sorry about that."

"Nothing to be sorry for, Zack. It kept us together this time."

"Oh yeah, you're right! Though…" Zack looked around. "We're back here again…"

"I know, but the realm of light is safe. Besides, Mickey knows that we are most likely here. In time he will come to find us again."

"So what do we do now?"

"Hmm, I don't know…" Aqua trailed off before her eyes widened. She held out her hand for a moment, but nothing happened. "Oh…"

Zack titled his head slightly. "What is it?"

"The keyblade… my master's keyblade. I left it back in the realm of light."

"What? But can't you just summon it like normal?"

"It wasn't my keyblade to begin with, and with it being in another realm, I cannot reach it right now. But I know I will manage."

"You sure? Maybe you want to use mine?" Zack said before summoning his.

Aqua shook her head. "It's all right Zack, thank you for the offer. But you still have a lot to learn about using the keyblade. I am already a master, so I know I can handle it."

"Oh, if you say so. I can't wait to learn more though, I still have a lot of questions to ask!"

"Well, we have the time. Maybe we should walk before conversing more? I think… I can hear waves. Maybe there is a shore nearby."

"A shore in this place? I mean we've already seen a lot of weird things, but i guess that wouldn't be too surprising. Let's go look!" Zack shouted before jumping up to his feet.

Zack and Aqua began walking towards the sound of the waves. They walked side by side to one another and eventually Aqua felt something lightly brushed against her hand. She turned to Zack and seemed to have realized what he did and looked away.

"Sorry about that, didn't realize how close I was I guess."

"There's nothing to be sorry about. I think after everything we should stick close together. We don't want to be separated like last time." After a moment she thought over it a bit farther and recalled something Zack had said to her before. It felt so long ago now, but she knew it wasn't really that long. "Besides, didn't you ask me about one date? Wouldn't you say that people hold hands on something like that?"

Zack's eyes widened. "Whoa, you serious?"

"I think I do owe you that much after all of this. You are on your way to becoming a keyblade master one day, and you have already shown great progress in such a short time."

"But I haven't become a hero yet."

"You have already proved yourself. I would say you are already a hero after being put through this."

Zack was practically beaming with positive energy. "Aw you're too kind, Aqua! But I know I still got a lot to work on for being a hero. At least I have you here to help." He then reached forward and took hold of Aqua's hand. "And now we can have one date in probably the strangest location ever."

Aqua laughed. "I will agree to that."

Together, now hand in hand, they kept on walking. It was hard to explain but Aqua honestly felt so much better than ever before. Maybe it was just having another person by her side, or maybe it was something to do with Zack's cherry attitude. Either way she was happy to have him there. They would keep each other strong and that made all the difference.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been a while with life and other stories, but I finally did it! I finally added a new chapter!!  
> Sorry for the wait, but I hope to anyone out there reading this story, I hope you enjoyed.


	5. Chapter 5

Zack and Aqua continued walking, following the sounds of distant waves. They seemed so close yet ever far away. They walked for some time, and at first they assumed they were only imagining it. But eventually they could see a shoreline up ahead with dark waters stretching out as far as they could see.

"Wow… look at that Aqua…" Zack commented.

Now only were there dark waters… but also a glowing light hanging in the sky as if it were a moon or something else. It lightly illuminated the waters, reflecting on them beautifully.

"I never thought there would be such a site here in this realm," Aqua replied. "It's almost strangely tranquil to see."

"Yeah, you got that right. But hey… look there… is that…?"

Right by the shore was a large rock of sorts, and sitting on top of it was someone in a black cloak. They just sat there though, looking out at the shore.

"Come on, let's see," Aqua said as she started to pick up her pace.

They made it down to the shore and once they looked at him again, though he didn't seem to notice them at first. Unfortunately they could not see what he looked like due to the hood that shadowed his face.

"Who are you?" Aqua asked, speaking first.

The man suddenly looked over at them, sounding slightly surprised by their presence. "Why, hello. It's not often I get visitors."

"Please, call me Aqua. And this is Zack," Aqua said before nodding to Zack. "Why are you sitting here all alone in the Realm of Darkness? How did you end up here?"

"Well… I can tell you this is my second time on these shores. But unfortunately, much like the first, I do not remember who I am or whence I came from. Everything was washed away in whatever currents carried me here."

"Man, that sucks," Zack said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yes… it's really too bad," Aqua sighed softly.

Slowly she let go of Zack's hand so she could sit down on the ground. Shortly after he followed suit and sat down next to her. "I know I have been here a long time, both me and Zack… wandering through endless hours… unable to escape…"

"We were close though," Zack offered, though he wasn't sure how helpful it would really be."

"You both wish to return to your own worlds?" the man asked.

Zack thought for a moment before he gave his answer. "I mean I guess I would yeah… it has been a while after all… I bet all my friends miss me."

Aqua nodded after that. "My friends as well… I'd promise I'd always be there for them."

"Your friends?" the man questioned. "Young lady, somewhere in the scraps of memory I have left, you remind me of a boy I once knew. He is very much like you, true to his friends and kind. This boy travels to many worlds and fights to keep the light safe."

"Keep the light safe?" Aqua asked as she raised her head to look at the man. "I've been away too long. I only heard some from another friend but it wasn't in full detail… are the worlds still in any danger? Can you tell us what else has happened out there?"

"Sad to say, they nearly fell to darkness more than once. But at every turn, that boy arrived with keyblade in hand to save the day."

Aqua's eyes widened. "Huh? Wait a sec… is his name Terra or Ven?"

"Neither of those, I am afraid," the man said, shaking his head.

"Should've known…" Aqua said, her tone sounding defeated.

Zack placed a hand on her back and offered her another smile. "Hey, at least someone out there is protecting the worlds right?"

"You're right… better than nothing."

"How long has it been since I met him?" the man posed to himself. "At least a year now, perhaps more… Back then, my heart was clouded with vengeance. I did terrible things to both him and his friends. I brought unhappiness to more lives than one. I felt something must be done. Was that why? A means of cleaning my conscience? Or perhaps, out of a sort of scholarly instinct. While the boy slept his long sleep, I hid the results of my research inside of him, transplanting the data to where it might best serve a purpose. In fact I would like to believe… Maybe he can set things right. A boy like him who touches so many hearts… he could open the right door, and save those lives I managed to ruin. So many are still waiting for their new beginning, their birth by sleep. Even me… and even you."

"What's this boy's name?" Aqua finally asked.

"His name… is… Sora."

Aqua let out a gasp before chuckling weakly. A tear started to stream down her face and it left Zack very confused still about a few things. "Wait… the same Sora you mentioned before? But didn't we just… well you know when we were back there and your friend said…"

"Time moves differently here Zack, remember? Hours to us is years out there. So from the time we helped close that door… more time has passed."

"Oh… man… I guess we are going to be here a while longer, huh?"

Aqua could hear the worry in his voice. The fear that they may never get to leave this realm… the very thought frightened her too. But this was no time to just discuss the fears and worries that they had. Zack had kindly given her some comfort staying next so she thought to do the same. She reached over and placed a hand on top of his knee. "We will figure a way, Zack. Don't give up."

"As long as I am with you Aqua, I will never give up."

Aqua chuckled, brushing off his flattery with ease, though it did bring a smile to her face. "Thank you."

After that the three of them sat there, listening to the waves. They were gentle and peaceful, which was a vast difference than what Aqua and Zack had been going through before. The calmness that the shore and waves gave them was more than they could have asked for. If it wasn't for the dark sky or waters, they could have called it a beautiful sight.

After a moment the hooded man spoke up. "Tell me, will you stay here?"

Aqua hummed, barely listening to what he asked. Instead she decided to ask something that was on her mind first. "I can't help shake the feeling that these waters touch another shore I've visited."

"The Destiny Islands."

"You've heard of them?"

"Yes. They are quite lovely… a far cry from this wasteland."

"Hey," Zack interjected. "Was that where we were before? The island place?"

Aqua nodded. "Yes."

"Wow, that was pretty nice compared to here, but what do you mean you think they touch that shore?"

"I don't know… just a strange feeling I guess…" she then turned towards the man again. "And I believe Zack and I will stay. Someone will come for us."

Aqua almost instinctively said 'me' but she remembered that Zack was with her. Even though she had a feeling that there wasn't anyone out there looking through the worlds for him, she didn't want to make him feel and less or or left out. If they… no… when they were found, they would go together. That was her plan.

"These waters are the in-between of dark and light, its shores the margins of day and night. They brought the two of you and I together, so why not also one other?

Aqua smiled slightly and gave another nod. "Yes."

"So we just gotta keep waiting?" Zack asked.

"That's really all we can do at this point" After that Aqua turned to look out at the endless ocean before then, just taking in every moment of peace that they had. If she knew anything from her time here, it couldn't last long, no matter how much she wished for it.

* * *

It was unclear how much time had passed, but it still did not feel terribly long. Aqua finally was finding herself to be relaxed, but then she sensed something from behind. A dark presence.

She whipped her head around. "Who's there?"

Behind them stood a man wearing a black cloak like the man they were with. Though this guy didn't have his hood up, revealing his darker skin and long silvery hair. He walked closer, staring down the entire group with a cold and serious stare.

Right away the hooded man stood up and faced the other. Aqua and Zack also stood up and he noticed that she stepped into a positive as if she would need to fight at any given moment.

"You…" the hooded man said.

"Master… I must have a word with you."

"'Master'? So now you mock me." the man said as he took off his hood, revealing his own appearance which was an older man with light blond hair along with a small beard.

" _Huh… he kind of looks familiar…"_ Zack thought to himself. " _But I can't seem to place it…"_

"Do you recall those experiments of the heart you bade me cease?" the man asked as he started walking closer to the group again. "Among the test subjects was a girl. She had lost her memory, just as I had. But… you can reconstruct memories. You did with Sora. I believe you have seen the girl's memories."

Zack leaned over to Aqua, he made sure to speak softly as to not draw any attention to them. "Uh… you got any idea-"

"Shh," she hushed him quickly, her eyes focused on the other two.

"What is your question?" the older man asked, growing annoying by the second.

"Where did you put the girl?"

"What girl?"

The young man narrowed his eyes, a small smirk crossing his lips. "Very well… If you won't tell me here…"

He started to reach forward towards the man but Aqua moved first and smacked his hand away. Stepped in front of the older man, Aqua was glaring deeply at the other. "I think you should go."

The man sneered at her. "A lost guardian of light?" He chuckled. "You wait here… for the King and his fool."

Darkness spread on the ground around the man and a large menacing looking Heartless came up from behind him. He only stood there though, crossing his arms, looking fairly confident. Before Aqua could even react, the beast smacked her back.

Quickly Aqua landed on her feet and Zack ran over to her. "Hey you all right?"

"Hm," Aqua nodded as she stood back up.

"Where is your keyblade?" the man with the Heartless asked her.

"Don't need it!" Aqua said before she started running at the man and the Heartless.

"Wait Aqua!" Zack shouted to her, but she was already jumping up to try an attack. Much to Zack's surprise she actually landed a kick onto the Heartless. Though it wasn't much as once she jumped off it, it grabbed her by the leg.

"Hey!" Zack shouted. He summoned his keyblade and ran closer. "Let her go!"

The man stared at Zack, raising an eyebrow. "A keyblade? Just who do you think you are?"

"I'm here to stop you! So let Aqua go!"

The man looked at Zack, still not budging from where he stood. "You? With that? You think you really have what it takes to wield a keyblade? How amusing. Best to leave before you hurt yourself."

"No a chance!" Zack shouted as he jumped up swinging the keyblade

The Heartless, who still held Aqua in one hand, swung quickly with its other hand, colliding right into Zack. The boy cried out as he tumbled to the ground, letting go of his keyblade in the process. He groaned as he tried to push himself up to his knees.

"Zack!" Aqua called out to him while she dangled there.

The man scoffed. "Insolent fool."

"No more!" the blond haired man shouted, interrupting them before Zack could try and do anything else. "I'll go."

"You are wise."

In this time, Aqua managed to break free from the Heartless's grasp. In the process of jumping away she tried to land a hit on the man, but he held up his arm and she jumped off onto the sand. She was ready to run over to Zack to make sure he was okay, but the man spoke up first.

"Poor thing. I mustn't leave you with nothing."

Darkness formed from the hollow heart shaped hole that the Heartless had. Aqua knew she had to prepare for whatever could happen, but she kept glancing at Zack. But when she looked back the Heartless was ready to fire the orb of darkness. She didn't know what exactly it was but she was ready to take it on. Though she did want to move over to Zack, she did not want to leave any risk of getting him hurt any further.

Though what happened next was almost too quick to even comprehend. The darkness struck right into her chest and launched her back out into the water… and Zack could only watch with wide eyes as he heard Aqua scream.

"Aqua!" Zack shouted a second later, breaking into a run. He knew he couldn't waste a single second. His heart was already pounding so hard he thought it would break his chest at this point.

Right away he felt the cold, dark waters soak up his clothes. But he didn't care. He kept on moving closer to where he saw Aqua hit the water. Though what he didn't expect was for something equally dark and cold to strike his back. Maybe it was whatever the Heartless hit Aqua with… Zack wasn't too sure of it, he could hardly even get a chance to think about it before he staggered forward and fell face first into the water. There was a sudden drop off and it just seemed to go deep down with no ground in sight.

But now underwater he tried to remain focused on his task… though he couldn't help but noticed this strange feeling seeping through him.

" _Gotta… get… to Aqua."_

Aqua was fading equally fast. She didn't understand the strange cold feeling seeping through her body, but she could barely bring herself to focus on it. Everything was fading from her mind… though just as he was closing her eyes… she noticed something moving towards her.

It was hard to see through the dark waters, but as soon as the figure was closer enough she could just barely make out enough of who it was. " _Zack…"_

She closed her eyes as she smiled, happy that she was not alone. She felt his hands wrap around her and pull her close and slowly she put her arms around him to hold him just the same. The darkness was now all around them and the cold feeling had nearly spread throughout their entire body. No longer could they keep their minds away and slowly… everything just seemed to fade away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit shorter, but you can see why I wanted to leave it there. 
> 
> If you guys have any thoughts, I would love to hear them! I hope that this chapter was fun and all.


	6. Chapter 6

Within the darkness the land seemed quiet. There was a light breeze that moved the waves of the dark shores, but other than that there was nothing. All was quiet, even the Heartless that dwelled in the darkest shadows. Though within the shadows cast on the darkened land, faint whispers could be heard.

" _There's nothing else for us."_

" _But we still have each other."_

" _No one else. Just you and me now."_

" _The rest have but left us here. They forgot about us."_

" _Forget them."_

" _Right."_

" _We were abandoned but now we are stronger."_

" _Yes."_

" _But what if someone comes?"_

" _They won't."_

" _But if it happened?"_

" _Then we express to them the pain we feel. The pain caused by them."_

" _Right."_

* * *

It was Riku and Mickey's second time back into the Realm of the Darkness. This time they were ready to take on the tough Heartless that would no doubt try to attack them. That was what ended up happening with a Demon Tide, most likely being the same one that had attacked them the first time that they entered the realm.

Yet… despite having new keyblades, the Demon Tower still was proving to be a challenge for just the two of them. Riku had been knocked once again to the ground, and Mickey was swept up by the tower of Heartless.

His keyblade was flung from his hand and crashed down to the cold sand grounds. Riku called out to Mickey, trying to find him in the mass of Heartless, but slowly the mass was shifting… changing.

The Heartless disappeared and now a dark orb floated above the ground. It glowed and soon a purple color seeped into the orb and in the blink of an eye someone jumped out of it, draped in darkness. Their form was undisguisable, but they stood up tall and presumably on two legs.

Mickey, whose head was now sticking out of the orb, stared as the form started to walk forward. It walked to the keyblade that was still on the ground, the darkness flickering off its body like flames.

"This keyblade…"

Mickey gasped. "Is it her?"

The darkness seemed to grow, but after that moment it started to fade away. Riku and Mickey watched the darkness leave as it revealed the human form underneath. Her back was to the two of them, but already there was something off about how she looked. Her hair was blue but seemed faded and getting closer to more of a white color. Her outfit on the other and was darkened, with purple darkness even crawling up her arms and legs.

"Mickey…" she muttered as she began to turn around. "You're too late."

When she did turn around all the way, they could see her eyes were a bright golden, filled with anger and annoyance.

"Aqua?" Riku asked, trying to make sense of it.

"What happened?" Mickey asked, looking hurt over the sight of his friend. "And where's your friend?"

Aqua scowled at them. "You abandoned us, that's what." She flicked the keyblade back a bit, changing her stance. "Left us in this shadow prison for more than a decade, knowing what it would do to us."

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault," Mickey replied, his voice heavy with sorrow.

Letting out a huff of air, Aqua turned and walked closer to the shores. "We reached this shore after endless wandering. Waited forever for help to arrive. But no one ever came. We only had each other, no one else. I lost my keyblade. Had no means of fighting my way back through the Heartless, and I was not about to force Zack into such things yet. You should have known we were stranded. Do you have any idea how lonely it is here? How frightening it is to have no one? Zack and I had each other, but it still wasn't enough to prevent the darkness from pouring into our hearts. All that is left in our hearts are misery and despair… and now, you can share it!"

Aqua was now standing out on the water, glaring at Mickey waiting to see what would happen. Though Riku was the one able to move forward since Mickey was still trapped. He made it to the water's edge before coming to a stop. "There's no need. Got my own."

After a moment, he summoned his keyblade, and then proceeded to walk further towards the water. When he got there he breathed in deeply and began to walk on the water's surface. As he was getting closer, the dark orb containing Mickey moved out in front of him and then was consumed by another Demon Tower.

Aqua had vanished from sight, leaving only the Heartless to be dealt with. It was still a hard task to go up against, but within enough time Sora had shown up to help Riku out. Together they were able to destroy the tower, sending Mickey flying off to the shore.

Now with the Heartless dealt with, Riku broke into a sprint to try and get to him. What he didn't expect was for Aqua to fly right at him and attack, though Sora was still quick to come to his defense.

But now it was Sora's turn to fight, and Riku could only hope that he was able to hold out against Aqua. It seemed like he was doing fine at first, gaining the upper hand fairly soon. But in the corner of his eye he noticed something else in the darkness around then. Riku stood up and watched the shadows carefully. Something was in fact creeping along in the darkness, moving in on the fight between Sora and Aqua.

Although Riku wanted to stay by Mickey's side to make sure he recovered, he was not about to let Sora get hurt. Running back out to the water, Riku summoned his keyblade. He thought to call out to Sora, to warn him, but that he knew could distract Sora from Aqua.

Creating a barrier spell, Riku made to Sora, who had just deflected an attack from Aqua. "Riku what are you-"

A keyblade clashed against Riku's.

Now both boys were staring at who was on the other side. He looked to be a boy about their age, or maybe a year or so older. Like Aqua, his hair was turning white, though they could see that the natural color was originally black. Also like Aqua, his outfit was darkened, with the same kind of purple climbing up his arms.

Baring the same harsh golden eye glare, he pushed back from Riku. His head tilted over to Aqua, who also had stopped her attacks for the moment. "I was tired of waiting and letting you do all the work."

"Fine," Aqua muttered softly. "Help out if you must."

Zack nodded and held out his keyblade at Riku. "Well I guess a one on one fight is still fair after all."

He jumped forward, causing Riku to bring up his keyblade to block. There were so many questions in his head about all of this. He knew that Mickey had mentioned that there had been someone else with Aqua in the Realm of Darkness. Mickey had even said that Aqua gave her friend the ability to wield the keyblade. So this had to be him, the boy whose name was Zack. He too had fallen to darkness just like Aqua had, no doubt feeling that same sense of loneliness that Aqua stated before.

Riku was determined not to give up though. With Sora fighting Aqua, Riku fought against Zack, trying whatever he could to stay on his toes this time. With the two of them fighting in a closer range there were moments where they tried to switch it up, with Aqua going after Riku and Zack after Sora.

The two that were drowned in darkness seemed to have some pattern when they were near each other. Their attacks seemed to play off one another some of the time, with them always keeping an eye on the other.

Eventually Riku could tell that Zack was growing tired. His attacks slowed and became disjointed and messy, leaving him wide open for Riku to strike. Zack breathed out, staggering back as the darkness flared up around him.

"No… why…" Zack muttered between weary breathes. The darkness was practically dripping off him while he began to sink into the water.

He looked over to see where Aqua was. He had to see if she was okay, but when he looked he saw her staggering as well. Sora too had won against her and now she was falling back into the water. Falling into the water with the darkness washing off of her.

"A-Aqua!"

Riku watched as suddenly Zack tried to run, despite sinking and stumbling into the water. Neither Sora or him stopped Zack though, far too confused by his sudden change of action. Just as Aqua was nearly consumed by the water, Zack collapsed right before her, falling into her chest. In the blink of an eye the two were gone beneath the surface.

Aqua felt Zack crash into her, resting his head against her chest. A small wave of relief filled her when she felt the boy with her. Her arms slowly wrapped around him as her eyes began to feel heavy. They were sinking again… deeper and deeper. She could barely keep her eyes open, but she felt some relief that Zack was still here with her. She could barely think at all… it was all too hazy in her mind at this point.

" _So this is the end…"_

Just as she was ready to close her eyes, she heard a voice. The boy's voice from before. He was calling out to her. Opening up her eyes she saw him swimming down to reach her. Not waiting to lose Zack at all, she tightened her grip around him with one arm and reached for the brown haired boy with the other. Still her mind was already fading away, but she did at least feel the boy grab her hand before she faded.

* * *

When Aqua stirred, the last thing she expected was to wake up to the faces of her friends standing over her. They called her name, both looking concerned. Slowly a smile graced her lips. "Ven… Terra…"

Though she groaned slightly, her head throbbing and the images of her friend shifted. The image of them faded away and now it was the two boys from before. "It's you…"

"Thank goodness. You're awake!" Mickey exclaimed.

"Mickey… Are these… the Destiny Islands?" Aqua asked hesitatingly.

Mickey nodded. "That's right.

Aqua frowned as she sat herself up a bit more. "When did they fall to darkness?"

The silver haired boy smiled and shook his head. "You're in the realm of light."

Aqua let out a gasp as a tear streamed down her face. "B-But… I'm… I'm really…"

The other boy also smiled and held out his head. "You're home."

More tears streamed down Aqua's face. She tried her hardest to not let her emotions run too wild, but a sob had broken through. "B-But wait…" Something tugged at the back of her mind, stopping her moment of joy. "Where's Zack!?"

Her heart started to race until she actually started to look around. There she saw that he was laying next to her, just a couple inches away. He still layed there quietly, breathing in and out, seemingly not shaking by the light that was in the world. No darkness seemed to be tainting him anymore much like Aqua herself. He seemed back to normal as he was, albeit for his outfit looking far more torn and tattered.

Aqua moved over to him, leaning over him. She couldn't even begin to explain her relief upon seeing him. All of her emotions mixed together into a blend that made every beat feel overwhelming.

Slowly she reached out and cradled the back of his head gently in her hand.

"Zack. Hey Zack, wake up."

It only took a few seconds before Zack groaned and his eyes flickered open. He had to blink a few times, no doubt trying to adjust his eyes to the light. But once it seemed his eyes could focus, he stared up at Aqua. "Aqua… how come you didn't tell me… that you were an angel?" He started to smile after that, even if he did seem a little tired in his expression.

"Oh Zack…" Aqua let her tears stream down her face again. She couldn't suppress her laugh as it mixed into her sobs. Pulling Zack up, she embraced him as tightly as she could. Her head resting against his as she finally just let her suppressed emotions go.

She could feel Zack's arms around her after a moment. Their little private group hug didn't last for long though as the others cheered for the two of them being back home before joining in on the hug.

Aqua didn't really mind though. The entire group hug proved that she was back. She was back safe in the realm of light. But Zack right in her arms… that also proved that he was safe. He deserved it as much as she did, and she couldn't have been more thankful that both of them returned safely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man it took me some time to get around to this (writer's block and other fics too) but I finally made it!! 
> 
> So I hope you all enjoyed and see you all next time!!


	7. Chapter 7

Once the group hug was over, everyone backed up a bit to give Zack and Aqua some space. The two still stayed close to one another, trying their best to breath through now sore and tired throats. Slowly Aqua breathed in more, and her heart started to relax finally. "Thank you. Everyone. This means more than you realize."

"Aw no probably, oh by the way I'm Sora! It's nice to meet you Aqua!" the brown haired boy said with a cheerful smile that reminded her of Ven.

"Sora," Aqua nodded. "Thank you." She then faced the boy who was quiet and stoic like Terra. "That means you must be Riku."

Riku also nodded. "We're glad you're both safe."

"Oh right," Aqua looked to her side to see Zack being respectfully quiet. "This is Zack, he's been by my side for a while now, and he has been a real help."

"Pleasure to meet all of you!" Zack grinned.

"So how did you end up in all of this?" Sora asked. "I saw that you had your own keyblade. I didn't really know how many others there were."

"Ah yeah, well long story short, I ran into Aqua before getting tossed into that dark place, and then I was tossed into that dark place. We found each other again and have just stuck by each other since then. And she gave me the keyblade? Or…" Zack turned to look at Aqua. "Or you did some magic stuff? What was it exactly?"

"Bequeathing. It is the way to bestow the power of the keyblade to another."

"Yeah! That's what it was. And you got a keyblade too right? I… I don't really remember what happened at the end back there, but I think I remember you two guys having keyblades as well."

"Yup! Oh yeah! Aqua, I think this belongs to you?" Sora reached his hand out and summoned a keyblade to his hand.

"Master Eraqus's keyblade…" Aqua whispered before slowly taking the handle from Sora. She had the keyblade back in her hands. After who knows how long she finally had it back… and it wasn't vanishing from her hands. She was still worthy of it after all of this time. Finally she dismissed it and looked to Sora, giving a thankful nod. "Thank you."

"Well! Now that we are all back we should go to rest up at Master Yen Sid's," Mickey said rather cheerfully.

Quickly Aqua shook her head. "No. I can't… not yet at least."

"Huh? But Aqua-" Mickey tried to say, but Aqua held up a hand.

"There's still something I need to do. Something I can't wait on… or I should say… someone."

"You mean Ven?" Mickey asked suddenly.

"Yes, and I don't want to waste any more time. I'll go, the rest of you go to Master Yen Sid's without me."

Slowly Aqua tried to stand, testing her balance. She nearly lost the strength in her legs and fell back to the ground, but Zack was at her side without a word. "Whoa Aqua. Don't just go off on your own. Let me come with you."

"Yeah! And we'll come too," Sora stated as he pointed to himself and then Donald and Goofy.

"No, I should do this alone. Only I know the way to finding Ven."

"Aqua…" Zack took hold of Aqua's hand, holding it gentle. "I'm not letting you go by yourself."

"Zack, you should rest. You've been through a lot and it would be best if-"

"Aqua no. You've been through just as much as I have," Zack said as he stared at her. His deep blue eyes not wavering in the slightest. "I'm not letting you leave me behind. Not after all we've been through. We'll stick together, okay?"

Aqua stared back at Zack, reading his stern expression. She felt something tugging in her chest, it was a light feeling hard for her to place. While she did want to keep Zack safe, she had to admit that he was right. They had been through a lot together. If it wasn't for him she probably would have felt a whole lot lonelier. But he had been there for her, determined and trying his best to stay positive. Leaving him behind at this point… would just end up being hurtful, pushing aside all his strengths he had already displayed.

"You're right Zack," Aqua admitted. "I shouldn't so easily dismiss you like that. If you want to come with, which I know you do, that's all right with me."

"And what about us? We should come too! Always good to have more back up!" Sora said. He had thought to tell her about Ventus's heart within him, but he didn't want to worry her more than she already had been. If it had to be brought up it would be for a later time.

Aqua laughed. "All right, you can come along as well."

"Great!" Zack exclaimed. "Then let's set out to… uh where was it that you were going?"

Aqua smiled as she gripped Zack's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "A secret place that only I know the location of."

* * *

They now walked in the place that was in-between worlds. Fog covered the pathway but wasn't all too thick. Together the five of them walked along each other side by side.

After they walked a bit further, Goofy decided to speak up. "You sure about this, Aqua?"

"If you wanna head back for now, we can go to Master Yen Sid's tower to rest with Riku and the King?"

"Thank you, but I want to take care of this first. Ven's expecting me. I promised to wake him. Said I'd be right back, but I'm not even close…" Aqua sighed lowered her head. Suddenly she felt a light squeeze on her hand. Since they had left to find Ven, Zack had held on to Aqua, saying he wanted to make sure that they didn't get separated again and it worked well before.

It was a nice sentiment and Aqua didn't oppose it at all. In fact it really helped keep her mind from wandering too far. Slowly a small curled up on her lips. "I'm in for an earful."

Aqua started to pick up her pace, warranting Zack to do the same. Before them was a large and rather odd shape castle. "Whoa!" Zack gasped. He turned to see that Aqua had her other hand on her chest as she exhaled slowly.

Summoning her keyblade she took it in both hands and pointed it at the door. A keyhole lit up and light shot out from the keyblade. Wind blue back front the door and soon the castle started to change before everyone. Within a matter of seconds the darkened world they were in was no more and now there was a new castle before them and a vast mountainous range surrounding them.

"Whoa! This… This is amazing! What is this place?" Zack asked as he looked around.

"This is the Land of Departure. It's where I spent many years training to be a keyblade master."

"It's pretty impressive! And you said Ven's inside there?"

Aqua nodded as they headed up the stairs. "Should be right where I left him."

"Then let's go!"

The group made their way through the empty castle until they came across the large open room that had three chairs. In the center chair sat a sleeping Ven, perfectly undisturbed. There was silence that fell over the entire group, but slowly Zack saw that Aqua ran ahead to move to Ven's side.

"Ven…" she whispered as she placed a hand on his cheek. Slowly she wrapped her hands around his head and sighed. "I'm sorry it took so long."

Zack was almost tempted to head over there. Ven was his friend too, but he had not known Ven as long as Aqua had. It felt like he would be intruding too much if he did come closer, but he could hear the worry and pain in Aqua's voice as she spoke.

"Ven, wake up! Open your eyes, please!" Aqua pleaded. "Why? Your heart never found its way home?"

Now Zack couldn't take it anymore. He hated hearing such pain in Aqua's voice and he needed to try something. Slowly he walked up closer to the chairs, moving to be right by Aqua's side. Carefully he reached out his hand and placed it lightly over her shoulder. Aqua shuddered before reaching up a hand and covering Zack's hand, but she did not turn back to look at him. But she nodded her head slightly, giving him a sense that she was thankful for what he was trying to do.

"Well that was a neat trick. No wonder no one could find him," a cold new voice said.

Aqua and Zack looked to see a masked figure walking towards them. She stood up and straightened her posture. "Stay by Ven's side, please." Before Zack could reply Aqua glared stormed down the stairs. "Why are you here?"

"Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt your touching reunion, but surely you won't begrudge me a moment with my brother?" Vanitas replied.

Before Zack's eyes he watched the scene play out almost too fast for him to understand. He watched the concentration as Vanitas moved about the room before jumping back down to the floor, standing a few feet in front of Aqua.

"Aqua, I'll handle him!" Sora shouted from behind Aqua.

Aqua shook her head. "No, _I'm_ ending this."

"But… you haven't recovered yet," Sora countered.

"Sorry, but you've seen me too weak, too often. Now it's my turn to shine."

Holding out her hand a barrier formed around her and Vanitas. Zack gasped as he moved from his spot that he had promised Aqua he would stay. He tried to move forward but the barrier prevented him from getting any closer. "Aqua!" Zack pounded against the barrier. "Don't do this alone!"

"I can handle it. Trust in me, Zack," Aqua replied before stepping into her stance.

Zack did want to believe her, but he couldn't stop the overwhelming feeling that was knotting up in his chest. He had been fighting alongside Aqua for so long, it felt wrong to just sit and watch her fight. He wanted to be besides her, but then he recalled the words she spoke to him.

The words telling him to stay by Ven's side. She trusted him enough to do that, so he knew he had to at least keep that promise to her. Once again though he found himself captivated with Aqua's graceful moves as she spun around attacking Vanitas. She cast beautiful ice attacks at the other, causing them to freeze temporarily in place as he laid on more attacks.

" _So brave…"_ Zack thought to himself as he watched. " _So graceful…"_

Aqua breathed out after another attack as she and Vanitas jumped back from one another. With a quick look to the side, it looked as if Vanitas was looking right at Zack. But it only took him a moment to realize that he was probably staring at Ventus instead. Before Zack's eyes Vantias cast a fire spell and it struck against the barrier, causing him to jump back a little.

Cracks were now formed in the barrier. Zack gasped as he decided to summon his keyblade. If worst was to come to worst, he needed to be ready. He wasn't too sure if he was ready to take on someone like Vanitas after seeing him go up against Aqua and still look like he barely had a scratch on him, but he knew he had to try.

Vanitas cast another fire spell, but this time just before it reached the barrier, Aqua moved in front of the attack.

"Aqua!" Zack screamed as he saw her stand in front just as the flame hit her. He felt his gut twist and turn when he heard her cry out and crash painfully to the floor, now laying there unmoving.

"Aquaaaa!" Zack shouted again before glaring at Vanitas who was calmly walking closer to Aqua's unconscious body. Zack was half tempted to smash the barrier at the weak point and charge after Vanitas. He wanted to stop him, but if he did… that would leave an opening to get to Ven. Not knowing Vanitas well enough, he wasn't too sure what the boy would do, if he would continue to attack Aqua or go after Ven, who he was after in the first place.

When Vanitas was raising the keyblade over Aqua's body, ready to strike, Zack could feel his body screaming at him. Now he desperately wanted to move, to scream again, but everything had been frozen, all of it moving slowly before his helpless eyes.

Suddenly there was a bright shining light besides him. Zack turned to see that the chair Ven had been sleeping in was now flowing with light. Within a second the light moved forward, hitting the barrier and breaking through it.

"Aqua!" a young and very familiar voice shouted.

Zack gasped. " _Ven? He's awake now?"_

The light faded, revealing in fact that it was Ventus and his keyblade collided against Vanitas's. The mere force of the two keyblades caused the entire rest of the barrier to crack and shatter apart. As Ventus jumped down to stand in front of Aqua, Zack ran down the stairs and knelt besides her. He was about to cast cure when he remembered he only knew the basic form of the spell. It wouldn't be able to cure Aqua.

Slowly he cradled Aqua in his arms, hoping he wasn't hurting her by doing so. He tuned out whatever was being said by Vanitas as she watched Aqua slowly reopen her eyes. "Z-Zack?"

"Aqua… Let me help you up, okay?"

Aqua nodded and Zack moved to help her back onto her feet. As he did Ventus came over quickly and helped on Aqua's other side. As soon as Aqua was standing up, Sora and his friends made their way over to ask if she was okay.

Zack took a couple steps back watching as Ven and Sora introduced themselves. He couldn't help but feel a little out of place. He knew he was still technically out of place. Just a kid that had been dragged into something much bigger than he realized. He was happy of course to have been dragged into it, but it still left him to worry if he was still too much of an outsider to really be there in the moment.

"Good morning, Ven," Aqua said as she smiled.

"Good morning, Aqua," Ven replied.

Suddenly Ven turned to look at Zack, his eyes widened with a huge grin over his face. "And Zack!? I didn't expect to see you here!"

"O-Oh!" Zack nearly stammered. He rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled. "Yeah, I guess that is pretty surprising to see me here, right?"

Ven ran over to him and threw an arm around him. "Not what I expected, but hey that still is cool with me! Still working on becoming a hero?"

Zack couldn't help but help. The feeling of being an outsider, replaced by a much more happier feeling. "I guess I still am."


	8. Chapter 8

Now with Ventus awake the group could finally make their way back to Yen Sid's tower where all the others were. When they got there not only were Riku and Mickey there, but also Lea and Kairi. Zack had not met them yet, but he had heard a few things here and there from Sora on the way to and from getting Ventus back.

When they were all there Yen Sid finally spoke. "At last, we are all assembled. First: Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, I cannot thank you enough for what you have done." He then looked over to Ventus, Aqua, and Zack. "And you, Aqua and Ventus: we are fortunate to have you back. As well as your new friend Zack."

"Thanks," Aqua answered. "I only wish we could have returned sooner to help." She then turned to face the group. "We're grateful to all of you for rescuing us."

"Thank you," Ventus said to the group.

"Yeah," Zack added on. "A really big thanks, seriously."

"I feel bad for letting you guys down. We tried, but we still haven't found Terra," Mickey replied.

'Don't," Aqua answered calmly.

As she spoke Zack watched her expression carefully. She seemed so calm and collected over the matter about Terra, but Zack could see past that. There was an underlying tiredness and weariness in her eyes that only he could see. Everyone else was smiling and talking with her as if nothing was wrong, but Zack knew better than that.

With all of the time he had spent with Aqua, even if it wasn't really all that long, he could just tell by the way she looked. Her smile was trying to hide how tired and pained she was in, but when Zack looked at her eyes he could see that pain hiding in there.

Before he could try to say anything though, the redhead known as Lea cleared his throat who warranted Yen Sid to talk. "Ah yes. Let us not forget our new keyblade wielders. Lea, Kairi, you have made tremendous strides. And from what I have heard," Yen Sid turned to look at Zack. "Zack, you too wield the keyblade now."

"Yup that's right!" Zack said as he pointed to himself. "Up and coming keyblade master!"

"I like the way this guy thinks," Lea chuckled. "Two future keyblade masters will be ready before you know it."

After there was a bit more discussion between the group, mainly with Lea lamenting over how confusing it was that some of them knew him as Lea and others as Axel. But in the end Jiminy made sure that everyone got their own Gummi Phone so they could read up on all the information that he had stored and as a method to talk to one another.

After that Mickey spoke up again. "Welp, we've got our seven guardians. Though… counting Zack that puts us at eight guardians. Is that still going to work?"

"Having an extra guardian brings no harm," Yen Sid answered. "After all the Organization can have more than just thirteen in their ranks even if their title says otherwise."

"So it's still all cool that I am here and stuff?" Zack asked as he rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a little nervous.

Aqua reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned to her, looking a little surprised by her simple gesture. She smiled at him gracefully, warming his heart. "We wouldn't want it any other way, Zack."

* * *

Once Yen Sid told the group to go home and rest for the day, Zack exited the room holding in his sighs until he saw that everyone else was ahead of him. Axel was going to stay in Twilight Town for the night while Sora, Riku, and Kairi headed back to Destiny Islands. Mickey and his group would go to Disney Castle for the night as well, leaving Ventus and Aqua to stay the night at Yen Sid's tower mainly for the fact they didn't feel ready to return home yet.

Technically Zack could have gone home if he really wanted to. Radiant Garden was still out there from what he was told, but he just didn't feel like returning yet. It had been over ten years after all. He couldn't just go back and spend the night at home after being gone for over a decade. It wouldn't feel the same anyways.

So he was going to stay at the tower with Ventus and Aqua. It was the only place he wanted to stay anyways. He still wanted to be close to Aqua, wanting to make sure that she was safe. Though as he headed down the stairs he saw Ventus and Aqua standing at the bottom of them.

"Oh Zack, if it's okay, I was going to talk with Ventus outside. It's been a while and-"

"I get it," Zack said quickly. "Nothing you feel you need to apologize for. I understand."

Aqua sighed happily and smiled again. "Thank you, Zack."

Zack watched them leave as he leaned against the wall. When the door to the outside closed he let out a sigh. Technically he was alone again, and he could feel the coldness creeping in around him. He tried to shake the thoughts away, knowing they would lead to nowhere good. He was back in the realm of light, and Aqua was too. They were both safe and sound now, though there was an impending battle up ahead which still worried Zack.

He was still fairly new to the keyblade, still new to all this world traveling with Heartless and Nobodies. It was crazy or would have seemed more crazy if he had not been tossed into the Realm of Darkness. So here he was, a keyblade wielder about to be thrown into a huge battle to save all worlds.

"Are you Zack, dear?"

Zack shook his head, clearing out his thoughts. Turning his head to the side he saw that three older women were standing next to him. One dressed in red, the second in green, and the At their sudden appearance he nearly jumped back, crashing into the wall. "Whoa who are you three?"

"Oh where are our manners," the one in red said. "My name is Flora."

"I'm Fauna," the one in green replied.

"And I'm Merryweather," the third one in blue said.

"We are friends of Yen Sid. He called us back here because we're here to help you," Flora replied.

"Help me? With what?" Zack asked.

"Well your outfit dear," Flora replied. "It's completely dreadful."

"What are you talking abo-" Zack started to say until he looked down to see his outfit.

He had forgotten how much time had gone by, and just how much fighting he had done in the Realm of Darkness. So much fighting and so little rest. No time to just sit and have someone mend his clothes when they got torn or dirtied.

"Geez, I knew they had gotten bad, but I didn't think they were this bad," Zack replied as he pulled at his shirt.

"Well that's why we are here. We fancy ourselves good with making new outfits. After all we made the outfits for Sora and all of his friends that you've seen today."

"You did? Well those are pretty nice I guess. A new outfit would be a good idea with going into a battle, yeah?"

"Oh of course dear!" Fauna replied. "Now you just stand there and we will do the rest."

Zack straightened himself up as he watched the three women pull out magic wands. Before he knew it they were circling him, muttering to one another about what colors would go best with eyes and how this or that would look matched with other things. Honestly Zack understood none of what they were talking about, but if they could give him a good new outfit then that was all that mattered.

Soon the three of them stood back from Zack and each held up their wands. They counted to three in unison before flicking their wands, causing the magic to glow and surround him. The light became too bright and he had to shield his eyes, but it faded in the next moment. When he opened his eyes after that he let out a surprised gasp.

His outfit had been changed to something completely new and different. He was now adorned almost entirely in dark colors, with his shirt now being a deep, steely gray and his pants pitch black with combat boots to match. His long jacket was a dark shade of azure, with a checkered pattern on the hem that reached down to his mid-thigh. He even had new gloves, black and fingerless. The new outfit was surprising to see after wearing his old outfit for so long.

"Whoa," Zack muttered as he looked over the outfit once more, feeling the soft texture of the clothing against his skin. "This is pretty cool."

"You're welcome, dear," Flora replied.

"These new clothes have special magic too," Merryweather added.

"Yes," Fauna nodded. "The magic woven in will better protect you from the darkness."

"Wow, really? That's awesome, really would be helpful," Zack said. "Thank you."

The three fairies smiling happily, looking proud to have made yet another stylish outfit With their work done they vanished into thin air, leaving Zack alone once more. Though with that time he was alone he pulled out his gummi phone, fiddling with it until he figured out where the camera was. He tried his best to get a good look at his new outfit from a camera view, or at least as much as he could fit into the camera frame.

"This really is impressive," Zack muttered. "Does it make me look older? I think it does." He chuckled lightly to himself. "Aw man just wait till Aqua and Ven see it! They're going to love it!"

He waited a bit longer, looking through the functions that were on his gummi phone. Mainly it was a lot of reading up on various enemies and other information Jiminy had stored up in the data. It really did help give him a more clear picture of what they were going up against, and just how much Zack never knew before. The vastness of all the worlds and all their wonders was amazing to him and there was still so much more than he could read up on.

He would have kept on reading if the front door had not opened back up. He stood up straight for whatever reason as he watched them Aqua and Ventus back inside. Right away he could see their eyes widened as they came closer.

"Zack? Is that you? Wow! You look awesome!" Ventus cheered.

"Yeah, the fairy ladies got me some new clothes, how do they look?" Zack said as he posed rather dramatically.

Aqua laughed lightly, covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh Zack, I think the new clothes look wonderful."

"You really think so?" Zack asked as he walked closer. He could feel that little bit of warmth in his heart again from her praise.

"Of course," Aqua replied. "It really does suit you."

Zack grinned at her, happy to have a compliment. "Thanks, Aqua."

"You know," Ventus cut in. "Maybe after all this, I should get something new to wear. Technically I have been wearing this same outfit for over 10 years."

"That's true for me as well," Aqua agreed. "But until we save Terra I want him to be able to recognize us from what he remembers us wearing."

"Hey…" Zack reached out and placed a hand on Aqua's arm. "We will rescue Terra. I'll help as much as I can. I may not have known him as long as you two, but he is still my friend and the hero I look up to. So I want to help as best as I can."

"Zack…" Aqua sighed happily with a smile to go along with it. "Thank you so much. You never needed to do any of this, but just thank you."

"It's no problem, it's what heroes do after all," Zack chuckled as he placed his hands proudly on his sides. "Or in my case, an up and coming hero."

"I still think you are a hero, you've made it this far after all. I'm glad to have you fighting by our side."

"I'm glad too. I can't imagine where I would be if… if… well you know," Zack mumbled, trying his hardest not to reflect back onto how all of this had started.

"It's okay, Zack. We made it out of the darkened realm. Even though we were there for some time, we made it out. That is what I think is most important."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me forever to figure out what his outfit would look like. I had a lot of thought but finally decided on what I did. Thank you all for reading and see you next time!


	9. Chapter 9

The night before the impending battle was still weighing on everyone's minds. But even if those things still swirled around, proper sleep was needed if they were to fight against the thirteen of darkness. The only issue was if sleep was even possible in the first place.

Aqua wasn't too sure about everyone else, but she was struggling gravely to fall asleep. Within the guest bedrooms of Yen Sid's tower, Aqua was tossing back and forth. At first she wanted to assume it was the bed that was throwing her off. She had gone so long without such a comfort and her last time sleeping was on the cold ground. But after a while she did find she enjoyed the softness of the bed so she knew it couldn't have been that.

The second thought she had was maybe the night light coming from the window was too much. After all she had been in the Realm of Darkness so long she had forgotten who the bright real stars were. But they were pretty to look at even if they did feel too bright. Eventually she decided to pull the curtains closed. Barely any light was seeping into the room now and she was left in the darkness.

Darkness.

That was something she had not forgotten. She could not forget just how dark the Realm of Darkness could actually get. Sure there was some form of glow from the dark that illuminated much of the land, but most was encased in thick darkness.

Aqua suddenly felt a shiver run down her back, warranting her to pull the covers tighter. She couldn't shake off this uneasy feeling that she felt in the back of her mind. It was growing slowly and she wasn't sure how to deal with it. For whatever reason she felt more on edge than she did compared to when she was back in the Realm of Darkness.

" _What could have caused this…?"_ she thought to herself. " _What's wrong with me…"_

Sitting up, Aqua let out a long lasting sigh. She knew that she had to try and get some sleep but if she was unable to rest her active mind then she wasn't sure whatever she could do. As her eyes searched the dark room, she almost swore that she saw shadowy figures in the corner of her eyes.

Gasping she looked around but she never did find anything of the sorts, but the sheer thought of it was already raising her heart rate. Any moment now she was sure the walls would close in on her or worse let the Heartless crawl in towards her. Any second she would blink and the warm comforts would be gone and she would be back in the Realm of Darkness.

Breathing in heavily she tried to shake away the thoughts, but everything still felt like it was closing in. The thoughts swirled around and around in her head and soon she was finding it hard to breath. She felt like she was going to drown in the darkness that had seeped into her room… crawling its way back into her heart.

Suddenly there was a knock on her door and all of those thoughts went away for the time being. Stepped out of the bed she grabbed the night robe that was on the nearby chair and headed towards the door. When she opened it she saw that Zack was standing there, dressed in a sleeping shirt and shorts. He stood there looking tired but also a little worried. His eyes were shifting from Aqua to the floor and back again, almost as if he was too nervous to stare at her even if he was wearing the robe.

"U-Uh hey Aqua… I'm sorry to bother you. You were probably sleeping right? I shouldn't have knocked. I'm just a little tired I guess…"

"It's okay, Zack. Is something on your mind?"

"Ah no… I mean maybe? I don't know. I just am having trouble falling asleep. Room feels too empty… or too…"

"Too dark?" Aqua finished for him, feeling that maybe they were both awake for the same reason.

"Yeah that's it. It just felt too dark and being by myself wasn't doing me any good."

Aqua nodded at him, feeling a little relief that she was not alone in this seemingly long night. "That's all right, I couldn't seem to sleep as well."

"Oh really? Well, is it okay if I come in for a bit? Maybe we could just talk or something till we sleep? Or get sleepy really."

"That's fine by me, come in," Aqua said as she held the door open and let Zack walk in.

As he made his way over to the chair, she went over to sit down on the bed, turning on the nightstand light. The two of them sat there quietly at first, neither of them knowing what to say to one another. Before Aqua even realized it, she was twiddling her thumbs, hoping something would happen.

"So," Zack said to break the silence. "Why couldn't you sleep? Ah I mean if I can ask that?"

Aqua chuckled. Zack seemed to be more flustered than usual. Perhaps it was because of the late hour where they were less likely to think before they said. But either way this shyer more embarrassed side of Zack she found to be kinda cute.

"I'm not entirely sure…" Aqua placed her hands down at her sides. "I thought once we were out of the Realm of Darkness that everything would be okay. But there is this feeling I have… something I can't shake off. I keep having to look in every corner, thinking there is a Heartless waiting there."

"That's how I was feeling…" Zack agreed softly. "I guess I'm just afraid I'm imagining this. Can we even say this is real?"

"Zack…" Aqua started to say, but soon she found that she didn't have any reassuring words. She wanted to be the voice of reason that she usually was but now she found herself without that confidence to say the right thing. She was having similar thoughts and feelings like Zack was so how could she even try to know what to say? She felt completely and utterly lost on how to go about this now and it made her feel worse than she did before.

"I don't know…" Aqua admitted without even thinking. "I'm afraid too. I'm afraid that I'll go to sleep and wake back up in the Realm of Darkness. What if we're still there and this is just some illusion again? What if I'm just dreaming all of this and…"

Zack moved from the chair to sitting next to her on the bed. He gently placed an arm around Aqua's shoulder and pulled her into an embrace. "Hey hey… I know we're both afraid, but we're here together. There is no dreaming that up. No matter what happens we will stick together okay?"

Aqua found herself to be smiling. Zack's words were so kind and sincere and they touched her heart. She looked at him, seeing an equally kind smile on his face. "How can you feel so afraid one moment then say something so strong and kind the next?"

Zack shrugged. "I dunno. Just one of the perks of being me I guess. I know when to say the right thing… most of the time." He laughed a little sheepishly at the end.

"I think what you said was nice though. You're right after all. We've been through so much together that I suppose being separated makes us worry for the other. But I know," she yawned for a moment as she leaned against Zack's chest. "When you are here I feel a whole lot safer than before."

Zack hummed softly before he suddenly cleared his throat. "Oh um Aqua. We're sitting a bit close I know… but if you wanted I could stay in the room? Like just to give you the reassurance that I am still here. I'll just sleep in the chair."

"Won't that be uncomfortable?" Aqua asked as she looked back up at Zack.

"Ah I'll manage. Can't be worse than the cold hard ground. But what matters is that we will be here for one another, right?"

"Right."

"Good!" Zack said as he jumped off the bed. "Then that'll be the plan."

When Zack moved away from Aqua, she felt that same chill she felt before. Despite Zack being right in front of her there was a coldness that was trying to seep into her skin. It was trying to freeze her up and cloud her mind with doubt and loneliness. She wasn't going to let it win though. She breathed in and reminded herself that Zack was there and she did agree with him that it was better if they stuck together.

"Well as long as you are comfortable," Aqua commented.

She stepped off the bed though to place her robe over on the dresser. On her way back to the bed she averted her eyes from looking over to Zack. It wasn't that her sleepwear was scandalous or anything of the sorts, but it had been so long since she had worn anything else but her regular clothes. But even when she was training back with Ventus and Terra, she had a separate room in a different hallway than the boys did. She always had her own privacy, but now Zack was here with her. She trusted him at least, but the idea of someone else sleeping in the room was new and strange.

She got back into bed soon enough and switched off the light. The darkness was still there like before but she felt better knowing Zack was just a few feet away. "Good night, Zack."

"Night Aqua."

She closed her eyes and tried to drift off, hoping now her mind could rest easily. But after a little while she heard sounds of discomfort. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked over to Zack, her eyes now adjusted again to the darkness of the room. Zack was in the chair, with his legs hanging over the edge, but he was shifting and turning.

"Zack?"

Zack stopped his shifting and looked over to her. "Aw no did I wake you up?"

"No, I haven't drifted off yet, but is something wrong?"

"Ah it's just this chair. Not super comfort for sleeping in. Maybe I could just grab my pillows from the other room and sleep on the floor instead."

"No Zack, you shouldn't have to do that," Aqua replied. She thought for a moment what she could do to help Zack. There was one thought that came to her mind, but the mere idea of it made her cheeks grow warm. She couldn't really sit there forever and decide on it though. It needed to be said now or never.

"Zack this bed is king sized. You could also sleep here."

"What?"

"A-Ah… I just mean that you shouldn't have to sleep on the floor!" Aqua nearly shouted as she fumbled over her words. "The bed is big that's all. We can just face away from each other. Back to back. You shouldn't be sore before a battle because of a poor night's sleep."

"Yeah you're right," Zack chuckled in agreement. "Wouldn't want a stiff neck before I go jumping around fighting Heartless and stuff. So… it's really okay?"

"Just face back to back… it'll be fine," Aqua whispered. It was not how she expected this night to go, but for some reason all her cares and feelings towards Zack were most active in her mind. Maybe if she wasn't so tired she would better understand those feelings. But right now there was no attempt to focus clearly.

"Okay then, if you say so."

Aqua laid on her side, her back facing the rest of the bed. Soon she felt Zack's weight sink into the bed. Tilting to the side slightly, she saw that Zack was facing away from her like she had suggested. With one final deep breath she went back to the side she was laying on and closed her eyes again.

"Goodnight again, Zack."

"Goodnight Aqua, and thanks."

Finally with the knowledge that Zack was there with her, Aqua's mind felt more relaxed than ever before. He was there for her and she was there for him and that was what she needed to remember. Now with that out of the way the only thinking left to do was finally sleep. She could already feel sleep taking hold of her mind and before she even realized it she had fallen fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I return once more finally with this story! Getting to some Zack/Aqua moments as best as I can. Hope you all enjoyed and see you next time!!


	10. Chapter 10

When Aqua opened her eyes, she was met with the light streaming through the window of her room. Even though she knew she had to get up, her mind was still a bit groggy. She hadn't had a proper sleep in a long while. She rolled her shoulders slightly before turning onto her other side. Soon enough she would get herself away, all she needed was a couple minutes more.

What she didn't expect though was to turn onto her side to see Zack practically right in front of her. She let out a short scream as she backed away, startled by how close he had been. She could have sworn that they had fallen asleep as far apart as they could, how did they end up so close.

Zack's eyes shot open right away. "Huh? What? Who did wha-"

As soon as his eyes locked onto Aqua he let out a huge gasp and stumbled back… all the way off the bed. He hit the ground with a hard thump and Aqua crawled to the edge looking down on him. "Zack? Are you okay?"

"I-I wasn't trying anything! I wasn't! I mean you know! I don't know how it happened. I was just sleeping and… and I…" Zack's face was turning as red as a tomato.

All of Aqua's worries and fears faded away as she looked at poor Zack's confounded expression. She started to laugh as she sat back on the bed. "It's okay Zack, I believe you. I was only a little startled. I'm sorry I screamed."

"Yeah…" Zack breathed out deeply, his cheeks still a strong red. "Yeah it's cool. Still, I am so sorry."

Aqua nodded. "We should get going though, today is a rather important day."

"Yeah that's for sure… are we really going to be able to do it though? This whole keyblade battle?"

"We must, it's for the safety of all worlds," Aqua replied. "We will succeed though just as long as we stay strong and stick together."

"Right, yeah… just a really big thing for me. I'm still thinking it over… I'm here. I'm going to be a part of a battle that will save the worlds."

Aqua stood up, moving closer to him before she held out a hand to him. "You deserve to be here, Zack." She helped him up to his feet. "You are just as strong as the rest of us, I wouldn't have it any other way."

Zack grinned. "Thanks, Aqua. I'll meet up with you in a bit.

Aqua nodded before Zack headed out of the room, leaving Aqua to get dressed for the battle. After that was done, she headed out of her room and met with Ventus and Zack in Yen Sid's office. He wished three of them luck before they were picked up on the gummi ship to head out to the keyblade graveyard.

When they arrived and began to walk through the land, Zack watched his surroundings carefully. The land was empty of all life, only desert and rocks for what seemed to go on for miles. Though, the further they walked, Zack did start to notice something else besides all of the rocks.

There were keyblades.

Hundreds upon thousands scattered across the land, plunged into the ground from eons ago. Something about seeing all of those old keyblades made Zack feel unsettled. He had figured that a place known as the 'keyblade graveyard' would have been a battle ground. He knew that battles did happen and people did die, but this seemed far more extreme.

Zacl exhaled, trying to place his fear somewhere else. He needed to focus. The battle was just ahead of them and if he wasn't careful, he feared that he, along with his keyblade would end up like the rest that came before him. He made a quick glance at Aqua, who walked alongside him. Seeing her calm and composed look as she walked brought him some comfort. As long as she was by his side, he knew that he would be able to pull through this.

Eventually, the man known as Xehanort showed up to confront the group. Zack listened as they exchanged words, knowing that he was still not quite used to having to deal with this type of situation. When more of Xehanort's team showed up and caused the sky to go dark, it rained down Heartless and many other creatures around them.

Everyone drew their weapons and went right into attacking. Zack tried his best to stick close to Aqua and Ventus, but many of the creatures warranted him to end up on his own for part of the battle. He still did what he could, trying to take out as many of the creatures as he could.

" _Geez, there must be thousands of these things… I thought we were going to fight that Xehanort guy, but I guess this is just the preliminaries. It's like back at Olympus… this is the bottom tier and Xehanort will be at the top, waiting for us…"_

When the Heartless and other monsters were finally cleared, he met up with the others who were already moving ahead. He ran quickly over to Aqua. "Hey Aqua, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Aqua answered. "You fought well back there. I'm glad."

"Aw well you know," Zack rubbed the back of his head. "I gotta keep trying, came this far anyway."

"Right, and I'm glad for that."

Sora soon came along, checking in with everyone now that they were all caught up. Everyone gave their nodded, though suddenly Ventus looked off to the side. He gasped as he looked at the dusty plains out in the distance. Someone was out there, standing rather still.

Though the clearing dust, Zack saw that the figure seemed to be familiar. The height and the build was ringing a bell in the back of his head. But before he could figure out anything, Ventus spoke up first.

"Terra!"

"Ven!" Aqua called out before she could stop him.

" _Is it really him?"_ Zack thought to himself as he saw Ventus grab onto Terra's arm. The taller man still stood there, almost too perfectly still.

"Terra! We found you!" Ventus shouted rather joyfully.

Aqua and Zack gave each other one look before they ran over to meet up with Ventus. Zack knew that he wasn't as close as the three of them were, but they still were his friends. They were the friends he made that made a huge impact on his life. If it wasn't for the three of them, he knew he wouldn't be there today alongside them.

"Terra, please say you're in there," Aqua asked gently.

"Yo! Terra?" Zack added.

There was something odd about the way he stood there, barely even reacting. Slowly he lifted his eyes and stared at Aqua, his vacant eyes starting to widen slightly. The way he seemed so expressionless yet could stare like that sent a shiver down Zack's spine.

Aqua stepped back, pulling both Zack and Ventus along with her guiding hand. Ventus looked at her confused, clearly not offset by the gaze Terra was giving. "What gives, Aqua?"

"I know that you're not him," Aqua accused. "Now, let our friend go!"

Zack watched as the supposed Terra started to smirked. Right before his eyes he watched Terra's brown hair go silver, and when his eyes opened they were gold. It was just like Xehanort's and the others, they all had the same eyes. Terra, or a past version of Xehanort possessing Terra as Zack eventually found out, was a part of the Organization XIII.

Once he began to talk, speaking of how everyone would lose, that was when things truly became far crazier than Zack had ever expected. In the blink of an eye the possessed Terra, Terra-nort, moved forward towards Ventus.

Zack only had to take a few steps to the side and he soon found himself nearly stumbling back. Terra-nort had his keyblade locked with Zack's, his face scrunched up into annoyance. "Out of the way."

"Not a chance!" Zack yelled. He glanced to the side and saw Aqua staring at Terra-nort, her eyes wavered and uncertain. He wasn't too sure what the deal was, but he could tell Aqua was unsettled.

Terra-nort grumbled deeply before darkness encased his keyblade. "Move out of the way, you are not important to this matter."

There was a flash and then a force of energy that coldied into Zack. He cried out as he was forced back, tumbling to the ground. The others around him seemed to be running forward after that, all trying to attack Terra-nort, but slowly he was starting to over power them.

Zack struggled to get back up just as he saw that Sora was blocking an attack. Both Ventus and Lea had already been knocked back, and Aqua still stood there like she was frozen. Everything felt like a blur before Terra-nort had nearly knocked every keyblade wielder to the ground.

It all happened far too fast, but before Zack even knew it, Terra-nort was being blasted back by a magic attack from Donald. He was gone, but still half of the team was nearly out for the count. Zack struggled to push himself up to his feet as he walked over to where Aqua was, now kneeling down next to Ventus.

"Aqua?" Zack asked as he moved closer to her.

"I just… stood there while he… he attacked you and Ven," Aqua muttered.

"Hey, he's still breathing. He's okay," Zack said. He moved his hand to her shoulder, trying to give her a bit of reassurance.

"Yes, you're right," Aqua said, brushing back Ventus's bangs. "Come, let's join the others. They need our help."

Together they walked forward, heading towards a pool of darkness that had pooled recently. Heartless spewing out in all directions, flying up high into the sky as Sora and Riku walked. Aqua and Zack walked right up besides them, watching the Heartless swarm together, growing larger by the second.

"We stand together," Aqua said, her tone now much more serious.

With a nod, the group ran forward to the explosion of Heartless that was still forming. Quickly, Aqua informed the remaining who were not injured to stay back and watch over the others. Though Mickey thought it was best to leave since things had gotten much more severe, the four of them didn't budge.

Zack readily held his keyblade, ready to fight when the wind suddenly picked up. He looked all around and watched as Heartless from all over started to be picked up by the winds of this now apparent Heartless tornado.

With his eyes widened, he felt a little fear sneak into his chest. "There must be thousands of them! They just keep coming!"

"Stand your ground!" Aqua yelled as dust picked up.

Zack shielded his eyes for the moment, waiting for it to calm down. He could hear the sound of the Heartless swarming through, growing louder and louder. When Zack opened his eyes again he gasped at the sight that he saw before him.

The Heartless tornado had grown at least 100 times more than it had been before. It swirled slowly, rotating the Heartless round and round. There had to be more than a million by this point, and it seemed to still be growing larger.

"H-How are we going to take on this thing?" Zack asked, looking between the other wielders.

His eyes landed on Aqua and his heart sunk. Her eyes were fearful as she started taking steps backwards. "It can't be… No…"

Zack ran over to her, just as he saw her keyblade slipping from her grasp. "Aqua! What's wrong?"

"It's… I see…" Aqua muttered as she stared. Heartless were flying out of the main tornado and coming directly at them.

"Aqua! You need to move!" Zack shouted frantically.

The Heartless were coming closer and Zack only had a few seconds to act. With a deep breath he pushed Aqua off to the side with his body, while holding out his keyblade to try and block the oncoming Heartless.

He felt the impact of the Heartless collide against his keyblade, but the force was much greater than he had expected. They swarmed over him within seconds and everything started to fade away into nothingness. Through his last conscious moments within the swirling darkness that formed around him, he swore he heard someone calling his name. Someone… important to him. If only… he could remember who…

* * *

When Zack opened his eyes he found himself in the keyblade graveyard with everyone else. Everything felt a bit hazy in his head, but this almost felt like déjà vu. He looked over to Aqua, seeing that she was smiling at him like before. There was a nod of agreement from everyone before they proceeded forward.

The strange feeling never left Zack, and as soon as he saw Terra standing there, he knew he had seen this before. Something about this whole situation was very familiar. He almost couldn't process what was happening. He knew he had seen this before, with Ventus running up to Terra and Aqua going after him.

He knew he had seen this before, but he couldn't remember what he had done. There was something he had done before.

Once he saw that Terra wasn't actually Terra he started to run forward. He wasn't going to let anything happen this time. Running forward he was ready to fight again, when suddenly dust kicked up around where Terra-nort was and Zack came to a halt.

Someone in armor now stood there, blocking the attack.

"Who are you?" Terra-nort asked.

"Got you, Xehanort," the armored person replied.

" _Wait a minute… I know that voice,"_ Zack thought to himself as he finally made it up to where Aqua and Ventus stood.

Zack could see the visible worry and confusion etched into Aqua's face. With a slow exhale she spoke. "Terra?"

" _So it is him!"_ Zack thought again as he watched as the two engaged in battle. He saw the keyblade do things he never thought it could do, and watched as the two engaged in a deep battle. It wasn't long though before Heartless poured in from all sides.

That was when the déjà vu struck him again. He swore he had seen this all before, the Heartless flying around in big swarms. The only difference was that this time everyone was prepared to fight and no one was out for the count.

Zack stayed by Aqua and Ventus's side during the fight. He knew after he wanted to talk to them about what they saw. But taking care of all the Heartless came first, though it was growing increasingly hard the more that came along. But Zack never stopped trying, he wasn't going to give up or fail, not this time.

* * *

The battle with the Heartless seemed to be endless by this point. After clearing one wave, someone from the Organization would just bring in more. Zack still hadn't even had time to really catch his breath and talk properly with Aqua like he wanted.

" _I guess a hero's work is never done…"_

Once again he thought he was going to have to fight even more Heartless but this time, when they were surrounded, Yen Sid himself had shown up to clear a pathway for everyone to make a run for it.

Finally things seemed to be kicking into action for the final battle. Xehanot had set up a maze practically of the stone that rose from the ground. The members of the Organization seemed to split up after that and Sora and the others agreed that they would do the same, going after the different areas.

Zack followed after Aqua and Ventus as they ran down one corridor towards where they assumed some of the Organization members would be. Finally while they were just running, they had no interruptions, he could finally speak.

"Hey, Aqua?"

"Yes, Zack?"

"What do you think happened back there… with that armor?"

"That was… the armor was Terra's. Ven, Terra, and I all have our own. But I don't understand how…" Aqua sighed. "I don't know what happened, but," Aqua sighed as she trailed off.

"But it really was him?"

"Maybe… I wish I could know the answer."

Zack reached over and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, we can do this. We'll get to the bottom of whatever it is, and find Terra. Or save him. Or whatever it is."

"Yeah!" Ventus interjected. "We will save Terra! We just gotta!"

"Together!" Zack nodded. "I know that you guys have been friends for way longer than you've been friends with me, but Terra is still my friend too."

"We wouldn't forget about you, Zack. You're part of the team now," Ventus replied with a smile.

"We're happy you're here," Aqua added with her usual kind smile.

"Aw well thanks! Now come up, there is an opening up ahead!"

The trio headed forward, reaching an opening from the maze. In the center of the area stood two of the Organization members, and it just so happened to be Terra-Nort as well as Vanitas. Now came the moment that they had been waiting for, the next grand battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! It's been some time but it is finally updated! 
> 
> I forgot how long the cutscenes in the early section of the Graveyard were and that's what made it so hard to go through and write. But I finally did it!! Next time it is the return of Terra and that shall be fun!! See you all next time!!


End file.
